Digi Side Story
by solitaireclay07
Summary: The Tamers run into trouble putting on a musical, West Side Story. What could possibly come out of a harmless school play? Deaths are in some chapters...but not really gory.
1. The Play

Kazu: I still don't get the cupcake thing.  
  
Rika: Ah...SHUT UP!  
  
Ashley: Hello people who've decided to read a fic I wrote out of pure boredom!  
  
Kazu: Question: Does this have to do with West Side Story?  
  
Ashley: *grins* Wait and see. Someone say the disclaimer.  
  
Kazu: Ashley doesn't own Digimon. There, good?  
  
Rika: Boring.  
  
Kazu: Short and simple. Give me a break.  
  
Ashley: Going to fic...  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
All the tamers were sitting around, doing absolutely nothing. The only tamer that wasn't there was Jeri. Where could Jeri be?  
  
Suddenly, a twirling figure came...um...twirling into view, singing.  
  
"I feel pretty, oh so pretty, I feel pretty and witty and bright! And I pity any girl who isn't me tonight!"  
  
It was Jeri.  
  
"Hey, I know that song!" Ashley said. "It's from West Side Story!"  
  
"West Side Story? What's that?" Takato asked.  
  
"Don't tell me you've never seen it!!!" Ashley cried out in horror.  
  
"Umm..."  
  
"I haven't either." Jeri said.  
  
"But you were just singing the song!"  
  
"I heard it on the radio. It was a contribute or something," Jeri explained.  
  
"Alright...that's it!" Ashley said, getting up and walking out of sight.  
  
Everyone watched her go. "Hmm...wonder where she's going..." Henry muttered.  
  
~THE NEXT DAY~  
  
"WOW! YES! Two gallons does equal a peck!!!" Mr. Putuhs shouted in the science lab.  
  
Everyone raised their eyebrows.  
  
"Teachers and students!" a voice came through the overcom. Everyone quieted down, even Mr. Putuhs.  
  
"I have a special announcement. A student yesterday gave me the great idea of putting on a play. Not just any play! West Side Story!!"  
  
Many 'huh's were heard in the room, except for all the tamers staring at Ashley, who was smiling broadly.  
  
"Meeting is tomorrow after school. I hope you all intend. If you don't...EXTRA HOMEWORK! Mwhahahahaha..." Then there was silence.  
  
"What is West Side Story?" Dan asked, totally confused.  
  
"One of the best plays of all time!" Ashley said.  
  
"What's it about?" Mr. Putuhs asked. Even he was interested.  
  
"It's kinda a Romeo and Juliet story..."  
  
Everyone groaned.  
  
"But better! There's lots fighting and gangs and stuff!" Ashley added.  
  
"COOL!" random people shouted. Soon, everyone was excited about the upcoming play.  
  
But, little did they know what was in store for them...  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Kazu: West Side Story...KNEW it!  
  
Ashley: ^_^  
  
Rika: What's the couplings?  
  
Ashley: Heh...not telling...  
  
Rika: Then I'll see what category it's under...*walks off*  
  
Kazu: The fic is stupid...  
  
Ashley: Agree. But this was written out of boredom!! Review...just review...thanks for reading this. I didn't think anybody would. *starts humming 'America'* 


	2. Tony, Tony

Chapter Two: Tony, Tony  
  
Kazu: *mouthful of cupcake* Hello. Question: Where did the title of this chapter come from?  
  
Ashley: A line from a song in West Side Story.  
  
Kazu: Oh.  
  
Rika: Hey! I thought you weren't gonna continue with this fic...  
  
Ashley: Hmm...had an idea...continuing...  
  
Kazu: West Side Story is so boring. Why are you so obsessed with the movie/play?  
  
Ashley: Because the songs get stuck in your head, and after awhile, you begin to like them. Then you begin to like the whole play, even if guys frolic in it.  
  
Rika: Mmm...interesting...  
  
Ashley: I'm just going to let *picks name out of hat* Jeri do the disclaimer, so we can get started.  
  
Jeri: OH YAY! Um...Ashley doesn't own Digimon, because she...*looks around* doesn't...  
  
Ashley: Rrright...anyway...onto the fic...  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"I wonder who gets to play Maria..." Ashley asked, as they sat down in the auditorium, waiting for instructions.  
  
"Maria? And she is...?" Rika asked.  
  
"Main character...well...with Tony..."  
  
"Why don't you try out for Maria?" Takato asked, in the row behind them.  
  
"Oh...um...I would because I know the songs and can sing them perfectly...but, I'm not such a good actor. And don't say that I was good at the middle school play. All I had to do was sit and stand and run off stage. That isn't anything compared to the part of Maria."  
  
"HELLO STUDENTS!" Mrs. Tenner came running onstage. A few 'hello's were heard in the now packed audience.  
  
"West Side Story. A beautiful and many times done play. I don't know much about it, but I know that one of our students does. Ashley Ojuka. Can you come up here and explain the plot of West Side Story?"  
  
"Sure!" Ashley called out from the audience, and walked up onstage, grabbing the microphone from Mrs. Tenner.  
  
"West Side Story is kinda like Romeo and Juliet. There are two gangs, the Jets and the Sharks. The Jets are Americans and always fight with the Sharks, who are immigrants from Puerto Rico. Riff, the leader of the Jets, wants to battle the leader of the sharks, Bernardo. And Bernardo wants to start a rumble too. But, in the midst of all the fighting, the sister of Bernardo, Maria, falls in love with the other leader of the Jets, Tony. Basically, that's how the whole story goes."  
  
Ashley walked back to her seat in the audience, while Mrs. Tenner thanked her. "Tryouts are today."  
  
"WHAT?!" The whole audience started shouting.  
  
"To learn this play in enough time, we need to get tryouts done today. Okay....anybody who wants any part at all come up here and stand in a line. I'll give you any random line to say, and you say it. Then I'll see which part you would be best at."  
  
Kazu turned around in his seat. "Anyone trying out?"  
  
"You wouldn't see me up there," Rika said, "I might be stage manager, but acting, no way."  
  
"I might tryout," Ashley announced, "I just wanna small part though. I'm not very good at acting. The biggest part I would want and be happy with is Anybodys."  
  
"Anybodys?"  
  
"Don't ask," Ashley mumbled.  
  
"I might tryout to see if I can get a part," Ryo said.  
  
"Cool!" Kazu exclaimed, "I might too. I'd like to be in a gang!"  
  
"Me too."  
  
"I'd like to tryout."  
  
"Sounds fun."  
  
"Hmm..." Ashley said, looking around, "It seems like everyone except Rika is trying out."  
  
"Aww...come on Rika! Be a part of this play!" Kazu cried out.  
  
"I will be. Stage manager." Rika answered, sitting back in her chair.  
  
"Well, let's go up there and tryout!"  
  
~A COUPLE MINUTES LATER~  
  
Kazu cleared his throat. "Um...oh, yes, 'When you was my age; when my old man was my age; when my brother was my age! You was never my age, none a you! The sooner you creeps get a hip to that, the sooner you'll dig us."  
  
"Thank you, Kazu. Next, Kenta..." Mrs. Tenner wrote something on her clipboard.  
  
"Oh...'Bernardo. 'Cause I heard him say: "Thees ees for stink-bombin' my old man's store."'"  
  
"Good job Kenta. Jeri, you're up next."  
  
"This is all you want me to say?"  
  
"Um..yeah...just read Jeri," Mrs. Tenner said.  
  
"Okay..." Jeri cleared her throat, "'No thank you-oo, ooblee-oo.'"  
  
"Great, Jeri, great." Jeri beamed. "Next, Henry."  
  
"Um...Mrs. Tenner, just to let you know, I don't want to be a person in a gang, okay?" Henry said.  
  
"Right, okay. Then say line 22 on page 34."  
  
"Okay..." Henry flipped to the correct page. "Um...'Curfew, gentlemen. And lady. Baby John, you should be home in bed.' That good?"  
  
"Let's just say I already know who Doc is going to be. Ashley, get up here, you're next."  
  
Ashley walked onstage, and recited, "'Plenty. I figgered somebody oughta infiltrate PR territory and spy around. I'm very big with shadows, ya know. I can slip in and out of 'em like wind through a fence.'"  
  
"That's great Ashley, or should I say, Anybodys," Mrs. Tenner said.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"Takato?"  
  
"Oh...um...'What about the day we clobbered the Emeralds?'"  
  
"Hmm...good job...next?"  
  
It was Ryo's turn.  
  
"Ryo..." Mrs. Tenner pondered, "I'd like you to try line 12 on page 56."  
  
"Okay...mm..." Ryo looked up, "You want me to say this?"  
  
"Yep, just try it..."  
  
"Alright...'A trip to the moon. And I'll tell you a secret. It isn't a man that's up there, Doc. It's a girl, a lady. Buenos noches, señor.'"  
  
Mrs. Tenner sniffed. "That was great Ryo. Extremely brilliant."  
  
"Oh, um, thank you..." Ryo seemed a bit startled, as he walked offstage and sat down to watch the rest of the tryouts with the gang.  
  
"Brittany, your turn," Mrs. Tenner said, ushering to a brunette.  
  
Brittany walked onstage and said, "'Make it not be true. please make it not be true. I will do anything: make me die. Only, please-make it not be true.'"  
  
"She's trying out for Maria," Ashley muttered.  
  
"Hmm...she's pretty good. She might get the part..." Henry said.  
  
After forty five more minutes, tryouts were over, and Mrs. Tenner stood in front of the whole school, ready to tell the parts.  
  
"The part of Action goes to Kazu Shiota." Kazu looked surprised, then started bowing to everyone. "Part of A-Rab goes to Kenta Kitawaga." Kenta just sat there, stunned. "Snowboy goes to Takato Matsuki." Takato smiled, as everyone clapped for him. "The part of Anybodys goes to Ashley Ojuka." Ashley smiled to herself, and sat back in her chair. "And for Velma, girlfriend of Riff, the part goes to Jeri Katou." Jeri squealed excitedly and tried to calm down.  
  
After a couple more minutes, Mrs. Tenner got to the adult characters. "The part of Doc is gonna be played by Henry Wong."  
  
And a little bit after that was the part everyone was waiting for. The two main characters.  
  
"Part of Tony goes to..." A drumroll sounded through the auditorium. "Ryo Akiyama!" The girls in the audience squealed with joy and started to pray that they would get the part of Maria. Ryo sat there, not believing what he heard. He was the person to get one of the main roles. He had to learn all of those lines. He was being counted on. He had to be kissed by some unknown girl.  
  
"And for Maria...Brittany Smith." Many girls started crying or started shouting, 'I WANTED TO KISS RYO!' Ryo flushed with embarrassment, as he looked around for Brittany. Yep, it was the Brittany that he saw tryout. He had to kiss her. And in addition, he had to kiss this girl Brittany in front of many of his jealous fangirls. Oh no.  
  
"Okay, shoo! All of you! Go home!" Mrs. Tenner yelled from onstage. Slowly, the auditorium cleared out.  
  
"Hey, Ryo!" Kazu said from behind him, "You get to kiss that new girl, Brittany! Lucky you!"  
  
"Oh yeah," Ryo said sarcastically, "Lucky me."  
  
"How are you going to learn all of those lines Ryo?" Ashley asked, "The part of Tony is huge."  
  
"I guess I have to try. I'm not going to drop out."  
  
Rika smirked. "I feel sorry for that girl Brittany. She has to KISS you."  
  
"Thanks a lot Rika," Ryo said.  
  
"So, did you get the stage manager part Rika?" Takato asked.  
  
"Yep. I get to be a part of this, and get to do barely nothing."  
  
"Hmm...tomorrow we should set up a meeting to practice our lines," Jeri said.  
  
"Okay...how 'bout noon in the park?" Takato said, and everyone nodded. "Okay then...meet you guys tomorrow."  
  
"Bye!" Everyone said, and went their separate ways.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Kazu: *mouth of popcorn this time* Boring ending...  
  
Ashley: Shut up...longer then the first chapter at least.  
  
Rika: At least I wasn't picked to be Maria...  
  
Ashley: Mmm...*looks as though she's hiding something*  
  
Rika: Okay, what's gonna happen?  
  
Ashley: Can't tell. It'll give the plot away. Anyway, review please! Prewty plwease?  
  
Kazu: Yeah, review. It makes Ashley so happy to know that SOMEONE likes her fic.  
  
Ashley: ^_^ REVIEW!!! 


	3. Maria

Chapter Three: Maria  
  
Kazu: *steals last cupcake* Interesting chapter name...  
  
Ashley: Yeah, very. Well, this chapter does have to do with the person in the role of Maria. And...it's a song name!  
  
Rika: *sighs*  
  
Ashley: You guys are getting boring. I'm inviting everyone else. HEY GUYS, COME HERE!!!  
  
Ryo: Yeah?  
  
Ashley: These guys are getting boring. So, make conversation!  
  
Takato: You've got....um...lots of reviews...  
  
Ashley: *darkly* I know.  
  
Henry: I guess people don't appreciate fine plays like West Side Story...  
  
Ashley: Or they hate me...  
  
Henry: Yeah, that too.  
  
Ashley: Okay, enough of that. Say the disclaimer, Ryo.  
  
Ryo: Um..okay. Ashley doesn't own Digimon, or West Side Story, but she is lucky to own herself. And Amber owns Amber. And same with Sarah. That makes no sense.  
  
Ashley: Hmm...maybe. Now, chapter three: Maria...  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Many weeks passed, leaving only a four days to the big night.  
  
"Dress rehearsal starts in fifteen minutes everyone! Get ready." Mrs. Tenner shouted, as all the students ran around onstage.  
  
Ashley was sitting around, doing absolutely nothing, except talking to Rika. Somehow the conversation landed on Brittany, the girl who was playing Maria.  
  
"We should congratulate her. I never did," Ashley said.  
  
"Who would want to CONGRATULATE a person who has to KISS Ryo?" Rika asked.  
  
"Come on, be nice..." Ashley said, and Rika sighed.  
  
"Alright, I'll say congrats and then leave."  
  
Brittany, who was sitting alone, was working on her lines for the play. Ashley and Rika slowly walked up to her. Ashley was the first to speak.  
  
"Um..hi, Brittany. Congratulations on the part of Maria. You're really good at it."  
  
Brittany looked up and snickered. "Coming from YOU, that doesn't mean a thing."  
  
Ashley looked a little taken back at first, but recovered. "I wish you good luck at the performance."  
  
"And I DON'T wish you good luck, because I know it will go to bad waste on YOU." Brittany looked back down at her lines, "You shouldn't even gotten a part, your acting is so bad."  
  
"Okay, Brittany, that's it!" Rika suddenly said, "All I was going to do was come over and say 'Congrats!'...but you don't DESERVE it. You're a stuck-up brat!"  
  
Brittany didn't seem fazed one bit. "Oh, poo. I'll just have to get over it. Excuse me." And with that, Brittany got up and went through the door leading to backstage.  
  
"I don't like that girl one bit," Ashley muttered.  
  
"Me either."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
After rehearsal, the group, with Henry's girlfriend, Amber, was meeting in the park. Rika was in a extremely bad mood after the encounter with Brittany. And, coincidentally, the subject landed on Brittany.  
  
"She is so HOT!" Kazu said.  
  
"I agree," Kenta...um...agreed.  
  
Amber started laughing. "Like you'll have any chance with her."  
  
"HEY!"  
  
Everyone started cracking up, except Rika and Ashley.  
  
"I don't like her..." Ashley said quietly.  
  
"Why not?" Henry asked.  
  
"She's just a stuck-up little brat who doesn't deserve any part in this play!" Rika yelled.  
  
"Calm down, calm down." Ryo tried to calm Rika down with no luck. "Okay, what happened?"  
  
"I was trying to say 'congratulations' to her and she started insulting Ashley," Rika explained.  
  
"How?" Takato asked.  
  
"The usual a stuck-up brat would say...she doesn't deserve to be Maria," Rika said.  
  
"Well, there's nothing we can do about it," Henry said, "Let's let Brittany be Maria, and we can go on with our own parts."  
  
Everyone agreed.  
  
"I'll still think she's hot though."  
  
"KAZU!"  
  
"Sorry."  
  
~~T~H~R~E~E~~M~O~R~E~~D~A~Y~S~~L~E~F~T~~  
  
"Stupid rehearsals...I don't even see why I bother to come," Rika muttered, as she sat down in a chair backstage.  
  
"Rika!" another stage member, Isabelle, exclaimed, "You know we have much more work to do! I don't even know how we are going to get it finished."  
  
"We have barely nothing left. All we have to do is pick up the tickets from Hallmark (A/N: I don't own Hallmark either. ^_^) and tell the copying place how many programs we need."  
  
"And make sure nothing will go wrong with the stage and props...and check all the costumes, and everything else that needs a run-through before we perform!" Isabelle said.  
  
"When you break it down, it's barely nothing," Rika concluded, matter-of- factly.  
  
"Urgh!" Isabelle gave up, and ran off to check the props. Rika shook her head, and watched the chaos on the stage. Everyone was freaking out.  
  
"I am SO glad I don't have a part..." Rika muttered.  
  
"Okay, people, take a five minute break. I really really need a break!" Mrs. Tenner almost gasped.  
  
The people on stage scattered into the audience or backstage, sighing with relief.  
  
"I hate my part," Ryo sighed, and Rika snickered.  
  
"It's not funny!! How would you feel if you had a huge part in play and everyone was counting on you?" Ryo asked.  
  
"I would laugh...because I wouldn't have a part."  
  
"Lighten up Rika...he has many lines to learn," Ashley came in view. "That's exactly the reason I didn't want the part of Maria."  
  
"So, how's the part of Anybodys going?" Rika asked.  
  
"Great. I know all of my lines. I'm confident."  
  
"Lucky you," Ryo said, sarcastically.  
  
"Okay, we're gonna leave you alone Ryo..." Ashley said, as she grabbed her lines and walked backstage with Rika.  
  
"Over here!" Takato yelled, in the back of the stage with the rest of the group.  
  
"Hey guys. How are your lines coming along?" Ashley asked.  
  
"Great, thank you-oo, ooblee-oo!" Jeri exclaimed.  
  
"Alright..." Ashley said slowly, "How 'bout the rest of you?"  
  
"Great."  
  
"Same."  
  
"I can't wait till the performance."  
  
Everyone was confident with their parts. Rika said, "Looks like everyone is set...except Mr. I-snap-at-everyone-who-makes-a-joke."  
  
"Ahh..." Henry said, looking out to where Ryo was pacing back and forth, "Yeah. It seems like he's working a bit too much."  
  
To the right of Ryo, Brittany was dancing around stage as part of one of her songs.  
  
"Brittany looks confident," Kenta said.  
  
"TOO confident..." Ashley murmured.  
  
"She DOES act like she knows everything," Amber said, "She came up to me today and started to "teach" me how to accent my narration parts. She said I wasn't doing them right."  
  
"Hmm..." Everyone pondered and Brittany for a second.  
  
"Everyone! Back to your places!! Back! We are doing scene four!" Mrs. Tenner shouted from the stage.  
  
"Cool...I'm not in this scene," Ashley said.  
  
"I have to narrate EVERY scene," Amber grumbled, and set out for the stage. Everyone except Rika and Ashley did too.  
  
On the stage, all the cast members were getting ready, and taking places. But Brittany was still dancing around the stage, unaware of where she was going.  
  
Long story short, BANG! "AHHHHHH!!"  
  
"Brittany! Brittany!" Brittany's friend, Jamie, cried out, rushing over to help her.  
  
Brittany was on the floor, groaning in pain. All the cast immediately rushed over to see what was wrong with their star lady.  
  
"My leg! It's broken!" Brittany shouted, as the cast started to panic, "I can't go on with the play!"  
  
Mrs. Tenner was trying to calm everyone down. "People, people, we will find another Maria. Who knows the lines?"  
  
Everyone looked blank. "NO ONE KNOWS THE LINES?!" Mrs. Tenner yelled, panicking herself, and going backstage to see if anyone back there could help.  
  
Backstage, where everyone was totally oblivious to what was happening onstage, Rika and Ashley were talking about the part of Maria.  
  
"It's so fake that part! And it's so EASY..." Rika was saying.  
  
"Easy? I'd like to see you say a line..." Ashley said.  
  
"I mean, all you have to say is: 'My hands are cold...yours too...so warm...'" Rika recited.  
  
"Rika, that's - that's - "  
  
"PERFECT!" someone cut in. Mrs. Tenner came running up to Rika, a big smile on her face.  
  
"Congratulations Rika...you've got the part of Maria."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Rika: How did I know this was going to happen?  
  
Ashley: *innocently* What?  
  
Kazu: Hahaha...  
  
Rika: Oh, shut up.  
  
Ashley: Well, LOYAL reviewers, review PLEASE? Pretty please? I'll give you a chocolately chip cookie! Alright...? Alright!  
  
Kazu: In other words, CLICK THAT BUTTON BELOW AND REVIEW!  
  
(Next chapter: Dealing with the news...and (maybe) part of the play! ^_^) 


	4. WHAT!

Chapter Four: WHAT?!  
  
Kazu: *hides the last cupcake in bag* Hello people!!  
  
Ashley: People on ff.net don't hate me!  
  
Rika: Uh...?  
  
Ashley: I got reviews! Thank you Raye, Angel, 9-gungaw In4, Akino Matoumiken, RukiMakino, EvilVidel, Digifreak103, Dark Shadow, and Sam! *gives them all a cookie, except Digifreak103 who has something against cookies*  
  
Kazu: *inspecting a cookie* What kind of cookies are these?  
  
Ashley: Chocolate chip.  
  
Kazu: Where from? *takes a bite*  
  
Ashley: School.  
  
Kazu: *spits out cookie* WHAT?!  
  
Ashley: My school cookies are the best ever. No one makes cookies better than my school...well, actually, wherever my school gets the cookies from...  
  
Kazu: *devours cookie* Yum...  
  
Ashley: Rika? Care to do the honors of the disclaimer?  
  
Rika: Arg...Ashley doesn't own neither West Side Story or Digimon. She owns the character Ashley, of course, and Amber owns Amber.  
  
Ashley: Good. Anyway, back to the fic. Couldn't you see the ending of the last chapter coming? Okay, going back to the fic now...^_^  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Where we left off...  
  
"Congratulations Rika...you've got the part of Maria."  
  
"Wait a second, WHAT!?"  
  
"Brittany had an accident, we need a Maria, and you are perfect for it!" Mrs. Tenner said really fast.  
  
"No way, never, no can do," Rika cut in.  
  
Mrs. Tenner looked like she was about to cry. "Please Rika, you're the only hope to this play! Without you, the play won't be put on at all, and look at all the hard work we put into this!"  
  
"You're expecting me to learn all of the lines in three days, and be ready to perform in front of hundreds of people?!"  
  
"Yes, please Rika. We need you to do this..." Mrs. Tenner said, putting on worried look.  
  
"Mrs. Tenner...I can't!" Rika told her again.  
  
"You CAN! Please, please, please!" Mrs. Tenner got on her knees, begging, "PLEASE!"  
  
Rika looked at the assistant principal in disbelief. Mrs. Tenner was practically begging and whining for Rika to be in the play.  
  
"I'm sorry...I can't..." Rika muttered.  
  
"Rika?" Ashley said, who was watching all this from the sidelines, "Be Maria. You have to be Maria."  
  
"Stop ganging up on me," Rika said, watching Ashley and Mrs. Tenner beg, "I'm not going to be Maria." But, even then, her words sounded weak.  
  
Isabelle ran up to the scene, freaking out, "THE PLAY IS RUINED! RUINED! RUINED!"  
  
"It's not ruined...find another Maria..." Rika said, "I can't do it."  
  
Soon, to Rika that is, it seemed like everyone was ganging up on her, pleading her to be Maria.  
  
"G-guys...I can't...I just can't. Can't you listen?" Rika said, softly, weakening with every second.  
  
"Please?" everyone begged.  
  
"ALRIGHT! EVERYONE JUST SHUT UP!" Rika yelled suddenly. Suddenly, the backstage got very quiet, except for the distant voices coming from onstage. "You want me to be Maria. I don't want to be Maria. But, somehow, I am the only person who can be Maria. So, I will be Maria if you guys just LEAVE ME ALONE!"  
  
Everyone silently cheered, being quiet enough to not upset Rika again.  
  
"Thank you Rika! Thank you!" Mrs. Tenner said over and over.  
  
"If you want me to be Maria, LEAVE ME ALONE!" Rika repeated, as everyone scattered in opposite directions.  
  
"What have I just gotten myself into?" Rika asked herself.  
  
~~A~F~T~E~R~~R~E~H~E~A~R~S~A~L~~  
  
Everyone was hanging out at Jeri's house, getting a break from all the practicing. No one except Ashley there knew Rika had the part of Maria now. Ryo was sitting on the couch, relaxing.  
  
"Well, you look confident now," Henry said, walking by.  
  
"I've finally decided I knew the words well enough to say them in my sleep," Ryo explained.  
  
"What did you do?"  
  
"I feel asleep during Algebra. And when Evan woke me, I shouted out, 'Buenas noches, Maria!' All the class thought I was crazy or something."  
  
"Hmm...that would have been interesting to see..." Henry laughed.  
  
"It was...but now everyone in that class thinks I'm insane," Ryo said.  
  
"Hey!" Jeri exclaimed, walking up to the two boys, "Have you seen Rika?"  
  
"Yeah, she's in the backyard," Henry answered.  
  
"Oh, thanks." Jeri opened the sliding glass door to find Rika sitting underneath a tree, looking through a script.  
  
"What are you doing?" Jeri asked. Rika immediately hid the script.  
  
"Nothing, nothing at all," Rika said hastily.  
  
"Right. You're hiding something. What is it?"  
  
"Hiding something? I have no clue what you're talking about..."  
  
"Rika..." Suddenly, Jeri saw the script behind the tree. She quickly reached out and grabbed it.  
  
"Hey! Give that back!" Rika said, standing up.  
  
Jeri opened the script and read the first page, "Why do you have a West Side Story script? You don't have a part."  
  
"Uh...I...um...wanted to look through it."  
  
"What's the use?" Jeri said, sighing, "The play is probably gonna be canceled. We have no Maria. Brittany broke her leg, and then Mrs. Tenner said she'll look backstage for someone to be Maria - " Jeri stopped. She just realized what she had said.  
  
"Jeri?"  
  
"Rika...I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU!" Jeri jumped up and down and started hugging Rika, "Are you gonna tell the others? Do they already know? Was I the last one to figure it out?"  
  
"Jeri, Jeri. Slow down. Only Ashley knows. I don't even want this part. I was forced to play this part. I don't want to tell the others either."  
  
"You HAVE to, Rika!" Jeri said, "They need to know. Anyways, they'll figure out sooner or later. WAIT!"  
  
"What?" Rika asked.  
  
"We don't have another practice until the play. So, unless you tell them now, they won't know till the play."  
  
"And that's a GOOD thing..."  
  
"No, it isn't. They need to get over the shock now. Or, if you tell them before the play, they'll be too shocked to go on," Jeri explained.  
  
"Makes sense," Rika slowly said, "But I don't want to tell them."  
  
"Come on Rika! At least come back inside..." Jeri made a puppy dog face.  
  
"Oh, alright. I'm not going to tell them though."  
  
"Whatever you say, Rika. Whatever you say."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
After some video game playing, the subject of the conversation landed on the play.  
  
"We don't have a Maria...how will we go on with it?" Amber said.  
  
"Well, I'm sure Mrs. Tenner found someone to fill the part," Jeri said, trying not to look at Rika. Rika rolled her eyes.  
  
"What if she didn't? We'd have to cancel it. All the hard work gone to waste..." Takato said.  
  
"I'm SURE Mrs. Tenner found a person," Jeri said again.  
  
"I agree," Ashley added.  
  
'What are they trying to do?!' Rika thought, 'Kill me of embarrassment?'  
  
"How do you two know?" Ryo asked.  
  
"We just, you know, KNOW..."  
  
"We know everything."  
  
"Oh-kay..." Takato said, "Anyways, if they don't find a Maria...maybe they'll postpone the play."  
  
"But they DID find a Maria..." Jeri announced.  
  
'Yep, they're both in on a plan to tell the others without actually telling them.' Rika guessed.  
  
"Okay, spill it you guys," Ryo said, "Who is it?"  
  
"You think we actually KNOW the person who is going to be Maria?" Ashley asked innocently.  
  
"You just said you KNOW..." Amber said.  
  
"What if we don't wanna tell you?" Jeri exclaimed.  
  
"Well, I'd just KINDA like to know the person who I have to kiss like four times," Ryo spoke up.  
  
"Do we know this girl?" Henry asked.  
  
"Maybe..."  
  
"Yes or no."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"How well do we know her?" Ryo asked.  
  
"Hmm..."  
  
"That wasn't a 'yes' or 'no' answer!" Ryo pointed out.  
  
"Too personal of a question. Ask another one." Jeri simply said.  
  
"How am I supposed to know?" Ryo threw up his hands in frustration, "It's not like it's someone in this room."  
  
"Yes." Ashley suddenly said.  
  
"It is?" Takato exclaimed, surprised.  
  
"Well, is it Amber?" Henry asked.  
  
"Me? No way. I can't even act!" Amber said.  
  
"Ashley?"  
  
"I'm Anybodys. And I told you, I didn't want the part of Maria."  
  
"Well, you WERE backstage when Mrs. Tenner was looking for a person to play her, and you know the lines better than anyone," Kazu said.  
  
"Trust me, I'm not gonna play the part of Maria," Ashley proclaimed.  
  
"Alright...Jeri?"  
  
Jeri giggled. "No."  
  
"Come on!" Ryo said, exasperated, "One of you must be lying. The only girl left is - " Suddenly, he stopped. Everyone turned to look at Rika.  
  
"What?" Rika said, "You guys think I'M Maria? Hahahaha..."  
  
Ashley and Jeri gave Rika a stern look.  
  
"Alright, alright! Mrs. Tenner begged and pleaded and whined!" Rika shouted, "I couldn't get out of it! And everyone said I was their only hope left, and without me the play would be ruined!"  
  
Kazu, who was completely lost, asked, "What do you mean?"  
  
"What I'm TRYING to say is: YES! I'M MARIA!"  
  
The room went deadly quiet. Until, a couple minutes later, Kazu, who was pulling off a Kayla (1.), said, "Wait just a dog gone second. Doesn't that mean Ryo and Rika have to KISS? And more than just once?"  
  
Neither Ryo or Rika said anything. Except Kazu, of course.  
  
"Hahaha...this MUST be joke. Rika isn't gonna play Maria. It's a joke guys! A joke!"  
  
But, nobody believed Kazu.  
  
'Rika? RIKA is MARIA?!' Ryo thought, 'I have to kiss RIKA? This must be a dream come true!'  
  
'Great!' Rika thought, 'Now everyone knows...'  
  
'It's a joke! A funny joke! Hahahaha...' Kazu thought.  
  
'Wonder how Ryo is taking the news.' Ashley thought.  
  
'YAY!' Jeri thought, 'Everyone knows now!'  
  
'Maybe Ryo and Rika will get together because of this...' Amber thought.  
  
'Hmm...maybe this is an evil sceme to get those two together.' Henry thought.  
  
Kenta walked in the room. "Why is it so quiet in here?"  
  
That's when Ryo fainted.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Kazu: Strange way to end a chapter...  
  
Ashley: GO CLAY! ELF BOY ROCKS!  
  
Rika: Elf boy?  
  
Ashley: Clay Aiken. I'm writing this on the commercials of American Idol.  
  
Kazu: I like Ruben.  
  
Ashley: Clay will win, even though I totally love Ruben too.  
  
Rika: What about the others?  
  
Ashley: Don't get me wrong, I like the others too. HAHAHA...CLAY'S NOT IN THE BOTTOM TWO! YAY!  
  
Rika & Kazu: O_O  
  
Ashley: Okay, I'm just going to skip ahead, and say REVIEW! I do have more cookies, just to let you know. Please review. It's makes me very happy...and liked! So, in conclusion, REVIEW!  
  
(1.) Kayla is a girl in my class who is very slow at picking up on things, especially jokes.  
  
(Next chapter: DEFINITELY the beginning of the play.) 


	5. Jets vs Sharks

Chapter Five: Jets vs. Sharks  
  
Ashley: *taking back all the cupcakes Kazu stole* Hello faithful reviewers, and people who are just reading this fic but not reviewing for some unknown reason.  
  
Kazu: Hey, I got a social problem!  
  
Rika: We already knew that Kazu...  
  
Kazu: I'm practicing my lines.  
  
Ashley: And, to new reviewers and reviewers who has already reviewed but I'm giving you a cookie anyway, you get a cookie! That's Akino Matoumiken, EvilVidel, Kit Kat, Butterfly-fire, taKAri_RyUki~ruLEz, Midnight Blossom, RukiMakino. Except Digifreak103 because of the same reason as last time. Oh, and Rika1332 gets a cookie for encouraging me to write more. Now for the disclaimer done by Henry!  
  
Henry: Ashley doesn't own West Side Story, the movie OR the play, and she also doesn't own Digimon. She owns her own character, Ashley, but doesn't own Amber, because Amber (Henrylovr07) owns herself. And she's adding a new character, her friend, Katie! Owned by BorderLine.  
  
Ashley: Right. And, an important note: I realized I had Kazu play the part of Action, and my character a.k.a. me, as Anybodys. I was going through a West Side Story script and found something out. You'll find out when I get there. Oh, and I was going to change it, but Amber persuaded me to "Dare to be Honest". URGH! Anyway, on with chapter five!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
It was only three more hours till the play. Rika was sullenly walking down the streets, wandering around until she needed to be at the auditorium.  
  
'I can't believe I actually agreed to play Maria.' Rika was thinking, 'I have all those lines, and I'll probably forget one. And, worst of all, I have to KISS Ryo. Ryo, of all people...'  
  
A bird, who was in the maple tree above Rika, started singing. And Rika recognized the tune. 'Great, now even the birds are against me. "Stop singing I Feel Pretty!" Rika yelled at the birds, and, in fear, they flew away. 'Stupid birds...'  
  
For a few minutes, Rika just stopped and closed her eyes. She couldn't go through with this, it was impossible. She wasn't going to go through with this. Suddenly, she thought of something. If she didn't show up...  
  
'Yeah, and get the whole school to be angry with me. Right...' Rika had no choice. She was going to have to play Maria.  
  
~~T~W~O~~H~O~U~R~S~~L~A~T~E~R~~  
  
Rika walked into the backstage door, to have Isabelle run up to her.  
  
"Rika! I'm so glad you came!" Isabelle squealed, "We need to get you into wardrobe, now!" Isabelle pushed Rika down the hallway and into a room. In there were many racks of clothes, and a make-up counter on the side.  
  
"Here's your dress in the first act, Rika!" Isabelle said, pulling off the rack a white under garment dress. "And then, in the middle of the act, you are forced into this one." Another white dress, with a red sash. "And this - " Isabelle continued to pull dress after dress off the rack. All dresses.  
  
"Um...Isabelle? Do I get to wear anything that's not a dress?" Rika asked.  
  
"Absolutely not. You're the star lady. Star ladies wear dresses."  
  
Rika muttered insanities under her breath. She promised herself that she would go through with this. And she was.  
  
"Okay...um...your hair..." Isabelle said, pondering. "Oh, yes, Ronnie went out and bought a wig."  
  
"I have to wear a wig?" Rika moaned.  
  
"Well, yeah." Isabelle blinked. "Maria has brown hair. You have red."  
  
"Can't you dye it or something?"  
  
"Um, yeah. But you'd have to cut your hair."  
  
Rika sighed. "I'll take the wig."  
  
"Alright..." So, Rika spent the worst half an hour of her life.  
  
~~W~I~T~H~~R~Y~O~~  
  
Ryo checked his watch. "Only a half an hour left," he muttered to himself. He couldn't believe that he was going to be in a play as the leading man, and Rika the star lady. It seemed impossible. It was like a dream.  
  
Looking over the lyrics for his songs, he realized something. 'I wonder if Rika can sing. I never heard her before.' Ryo stood up and started to search for the others.  
  
He went by the rooms and happened to see everyone except Rika in one. Everyone was dressed up, especially Ashley, who was dressed up as a boy.  
  
"Hey, guys," Ryo said, "Nice outfit Ashley. Or should I say Ashton?"  
  
"You cheap beast!" Ashley shouted, acting like she was going to lunge for Ryo. "Sorry, line from play. Couldn't resist."  
  
"Well, you do look like a guy," Takato pointed out.  
  
"I'm SUPPOSED to!" Ashley explained, exasperated, "Anybodys wants to be a Jet. But they won't let her, because she's a girl. So, she dresses up as a boy."  
  
"Hey, aren't you leaving something out?" Kazu said, smirking.  
  
"Ahh...shut up..." Ashley snapped.  
  
"What?" Jeri asked.  
  
"You guys didn't go through the whole script?" Ashley said.  
  
"I just went through my lines," Everyone single person answered.  
  
"Kazu, let this be a warning. If you do ANYTHING, I will hurt you, and badly," Ashley warned.  
  
"Hey, don't worry, baby."  
  
"First offence..."  
  
"Oh, sorry...just practicing..."  
  
"You don't even SAY that in the whole course of the play!" Ashley shouted.  
  
"Umm..." Ashley looked behind her and saw all the others confused.  
  
"You'll see sooner or later..." She explained.  
  
"Um...hello?" A boy came into the room, dressed up like a Puerto Rican, with the short black hair. But his voice sounded like a girl's. Ashley immediately burst into laughter.  
  
"It's not funny, Ashley. You KNOW they couldn't find a boy to play Chino," the person said.  
  
"You mean, you're a girl?!" Kenta asked.  
  
The person took off the wig to reveal longer than shoulder-length brown hair. "Hello. I'm Katie. Nice to meet you."  
  
"So, you're stuck with playing a boy?" Henry said.  
  
"Yep. Surprisingly, nobody wanted the part of Chino. But, I suppose, I do look okay for the part. I did have you guys fooled for a second."  
  
"Yeah, with the wig and make-up and clothes, you look like a boy," Takato said.  
  
"And I," Ashley exclaimed, "look like a girl trying to dress like a boy."  
  
"Exactly."  
  
"But I hate this hat!" Ashley took off her hat, and her blonde hair fell down on her shoulders. "I never could stand wearing a hat. Guess I still can't."  
  
"We better get ready. The play starts in less than a half an hour," Amber said.  
  
~~T~H~E~~P~L~A~Y~!~~  
  
"Places everyone! Places!" Mrs. Tenner was freaking out. "Showtime in 5...4...3...2...1!" The curtain went up.  
  
A group of people, including Kazu, Takato, and Kenta were on the stage, with this boy named Josh standing in front. Suddenly, he started snapping his fingers. Then everybody copied him. They started to "dance" around the stage, snapping their fingers, until the met up with this Puerto Rican guy.  
  
They said nothing, and just pushed him out of way. Then they paraded down the streets again.  
  
Everyone left the stage, except A-Rab, a.k.a. Kenta, came strolling across the stage. Suddenly, some Sharks, the other gang, appeared and started beating A-Rab up.  
  
The other Jets entered the fight, and they all started beating each other up.  
  
A whistle sounded, and an officer and plainclothesman came running up to the fight. "Knock it off! Settle down!" the officer cried, who was Krupke.  
  
"Alright, kill each other! But not on my beat." Schrank, the other man, yelled.  
  
"Why if it isn't Lieutenant Schrank." the actor playing Riff said in an innocent voice.  
  
"Top of the day, Lieutenant Schrank." The Jets said, in a voice similar to Riff's.  
  
"And Officer Krupke!" A guy playing Bernardo said, in the same innocence.  
  
"Top of the day, Officer Krupke." The Sharks said.  
  
"Boy, what you Puerto Ricans have done to this neighborhood. Which one of 'em clobbered ya, A-rab?" Schrank asked Kenta.  
  
Riff spoke up. "As a matter of factuality, sir, we suspicion the job was done by a cop."  
  
"Two cops." Takato said.  
  
"Oh, at least!" Kenta nodded his head.  
  
Krupke, the officer, looked shocked. "Impossible!"  
  
And the next part of the play went on between the conversation between the Jets, Sharks, Krupke, and Schrank. (A/N: I'm lazy...^ ^;;)  
  
Finally Krupke leaves with a "Good-bye, boys."  
  
Takato imitated Krupke, "Good-bye, boys."  
  
"They make a very nice couple," Kenta said.  
  
"You hoodlums don't own the streets," Kazu bitterly exclaimed.  
  
"Go play in the park!"  
  
"Keep off the grass!"  
  
"Get outa the house!"  
  
"Keep off the block!"  
  
"Get outa here!"  
  
"Keep off the world! A gang that down own a street is nuthin'!"  
  
"WE DO OWN IT!" Riff shouted. "Jets, square off! Acemen." Takato, Kazu, and another boy lined up. "Rocketmen." Three others. "Rank-and-file." Sheepishly, Kenta got in line and so did another boy.  
  
"Gee, your ear's got blood on it!" The other boy said to Kenta, shocked.  
  
"I'm a casual, Baby John."  
  
"Them PRs! They branded you!"  
  
"That makes you a Puerto Rican tomato. Cha-cha-cha, señorita?" Takato laughed.  
  
"Cut the frabbajabba." Riff said, "Which one of the Sharks did it?"  
  
Kenta made a face. "Bernardo. 'Cause I heard him say: "Thees ees for stink- bombin' my old man's store.""  
  
"Ouch!"  
  
"You shoulda done worse. Them PRs're the reason my old man's gone bust," Kazu said.  
  
"Who says?"  
  
"My old man says," Kazu explained.  
  
"My old man says his old man woulda gone bust anyway."  
  
"Your old man says that?"  
  
"My old man says them Puerto Ricans is ruinin' free ennaprise," Baby John said.  
  
"And what're we doin' about it?" Kazu asked.  
  
Suddenly, Ashley came running out from offstage, and stopped in front of the Jets.  
  
"Gassin', crabbin'," Ashley shouted.  
  
"You still around?" Kazu said.  
  
"Listen," Ashley snapped, "I was a smash in that fight. Oh, Riff, Riff, I was murder!"  
  
"Come on, Anybodys - " Riff sighed.  
  
"Riff, how about me getting' in the gang now?" Ashley asked.  
  
"How about the gang gettin' in -ahhh, who'd wanta!" Kenta said.  
  
"You cheap beast!" Ashley yelled, lunging for Kenta, but Josh (Riff) stopped her.  
  
"The road, little lady, the road," he said. Ashley stomped off, but before she went, she spat on the ground. "Round out! We fought hard for this territory and it's ours. But with those cops servin' as cover, the PRs can move in right under our noses and take it away. Unless we speed fast and clean 'em up in one all-out fight!"  
  
"A rumble!" Kazu said, excitedly, "Chung! Chung!"  
  
"Cool, Action boy. The Sharks want a place, too, and they are tough. They might ask for bottles of knives or zip guns."  
  
"Zip guys. Gee!" Baby John said.  
  
"I'm not finalizin' and sayin' they will: I'm only sayin' they might and we gotta be prepared. Now what's your mood?" Riff told them.  
  
"I say go, go!!" Kazu said.  
  
"But if they say knives or guns-" Takato started.  
  
"I say let's forget the whole thing." Baby John said, scared.  
  
"What do you say, Riff?"  
  
"I say this turf is small, but it's all we got. I wanna hold it like we always held it: with skin! But if they say switchblades, I'll get a switchblade. I say I want the Jets to be Number One, to sail, to hold the sky!"  
  
"Then rev us off. Voom-va voom!" a guy shouted.  
  
"Chung chung!"  
  
"Cracko, jacko!"  
  
"Riga diga dum!"  
  
"Pam pam!!"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Kazu: *snores*  
  
Ashley: WAKE UP!  
  
Kazu: *falls off chair* URGH! Sorry, but it's SOOO boring.  
  
Ashley: I know! I almost fell asleep writing it. But when Ryo and Rika make their entrance, it will get much more exciting, promise.  
  
Rika: You can't make me!  
  
Ashley: I'm just gonna skip ahead and say 'REVIEW TO THIS BORING CHAPTER!' So, yeah, review to this boring chapter. Please?  
  
Kazu: Yep, click the button, and review.  
  
Ashley: The next chapter will be coming soon to a PC near you.  
  
Kazu: Politically correct???  
  
Ashley and Rika: NO! PERSONAL COMPUTER!  
  
~~*Choir behind them starts singing*  
  
It's a world wide web, that's entertainment!  
  
The future is now, on the world wide web!  
  
That's entertainment! Let us show you how,  
  
With the world wide web, that's entertainment!  
  
Surf it up, you'll find it out, on the world wide web!  
  
That's entertainment, we're talking entertainment!  
  
Dot com, that's entertainment!~~  
  
Ashley: Um...yeah...choir, ya know. Anyway, review! 


	6. Could Be

Chapter Six: Could Be  
  
Ashley: How deep is your love, how deep is love, I really mean to learn. Cause we're living in a world of fools, breaking us down, when they all should let us be. We belong to you and me. ACK! Choir...I'm not even trying out for that solo.  
  
Rika: Hmm....  
  
Ashley: Yeah...um...let's just get to the cookie handouts. And this time they're Oreos. THEY'RE NOT TAKING MY OREOS AWAY! THEY CAN'T!!! Well, to fight the lawsuit, here's three Oreos each to...Rika14, BorderLine (YAY! This is Katie BTW), Akino Matoumiken, EvilVidel and DigiFreak103 (you do get an Oreo this time, whether you like it or not), The Anti Fluffy. So, yeah. Disclaimer...*sigh* I'll do it today. Hmm...oh...yes...HEY EVERYBODY, SURF'S UP!!!  
  
Kazu: So what? This is Minnesota...wait, it's not Minnesota...I'm confused. Anyway, it's FREEZING out there.  
  
Ashley: Not that kind of surf. I'm talking about the kind of surf that opens up a whole world of information, fun, and entertainment.  
  
Kazu: You mean surfing the net?  
  
Ashley: Right on dude! And if you go to fanfiction.net, see fics written by a certain DigiqueenTMIM, you'll see a disclaimer that says, 'I DON'T OWN DIGIMON! Or West Side Story....or Amber....or Katie...or Sarah. The rest I do.' So, since that's covered, LET'S HANG TEN! And get to the chapter. *grins*  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Mrs. Tenner was running around backstage, not even watching the play that they worked on so hard to perform...back to the play...  
  
"Okay, buddy boys, we rumble! Now protocality calls for a war council to decide on weapons. I'll make the challenge to Bernardo," Riff exclaimed.  
  
"You gotta take a lieutenant," Takato reminded him.  
  
"That's me!" Kazu said.  
  
"That's Tony."  
  
"Who need Tony?" Kazu asked. And after that, some music started to play in the background.  
  
"Against the Sharks we need every man we got."  
  
"Tony don't belong any more," Kazu said.  
  
"Cut it, Action boy. I and Tony started the Jets," Riff explained.  
  
"Well, he acts like he don't wanna belong."  
  
"Who wouldn't wanna belong to the Jets!"  
  
"Tony ain't been with us for over a month."  
  
"What about the day we clobbered the Emeralds?"  
  
"Which we couldn't have done without Tony."  
  
"He saved my ever lovin' neck."  
  
"Right!" Riff said, "He's always come through for us and he will now." Then he started singing.  
  
"When you're a Jet,  
  
You're a Jet all the way  
  
From your first cigarette  
  
To your last dyin' day.  
  
When you're a Jet,  
  
If the spit hits the fan,  
  
You got brothers around,  
  
You're a family man!  
  
You're never alone,  
  
You're never disconnected!  
  
You're home with your own:  
  
When company's expected,  
  
You're well protected!  
  
Then you are set  
  
With a capital J,  
  
Which you'll never forget  
  
Till they cart you away.  
  
When you're a Jet,  
  
You stay  
  
A Jet!  
  
~~  
  
Riff stopped singing. "I know Tony like I know me. I guarantee you can count him in."  
  
"In, out, let's get crackin'," Kazu said.  
  
"Where you gonna find Bernardo?" Kenta asked.  
  
"At the dance tonight at the gym."  
  
"But the gym's neutral territory."  
  
Riff said innocently, "I'm gonna make nice there! I'm only gonna challenge him."  
  
"Great, Daddy-O!"  
  
"So everybody dress up sweet and sharp. Meet Tony and me at them. And walk tall!" And with that, Josh (Riff) ran backstage.  
  
BACKSTAGE  
  
"Great job Josh!" Isabelle said.  
  
Mrs. Tenner came running up to him. "You sweet sweet boy! You deserve a treat! Here!" She gave Josh a bag of sweets. "I love all of you!" Then Mrs. Tenner went running off, crying.  
  
"Oh-kay..." Josh said, shrugged, and went to relax for a little while.  
  
BACK TO THE PLAY  
  
"We always talk tall!" Kenta said.  
  
"We're Jets!"  
  
"The greatest!" Kazu said, and started to sing with "Baby John".  
  
When you're a Jet,  
  
You're the top cat in town,  
  
You're the gold-metal kid  
  
With the heavyweight crown!  
  
~~~  
  
And then, Kenta, Kazu, and another guy started singing.  
  
~~~  
  
When you're a Jet,  
  
You're the swingin'est thing.  
  
Little boy, you're a man;  
  
Little man, you're a king!  
  
~~  
  
And everybody...  
  
~~  
  
The Jets are in gear,  
  
Our cylinders are clickin'!  
  
The Sharks'll steer clear  
  
'Cause ev'ry Puerto Rican  
  
'S a lousy chicken!  
  
Here come the Jets  
  
Like a bat out of hell-  
  
Someone gets in our way,  
  
Someone don't feel so well.  
  
Here come the Jets:  
  
Little world, step aside!  
  
Better go underground,  
  
Better run, better hide.  
  
We're drawin' the line,  
  
So keep your noses hidden!  
  
We're hangin' a sign,  
  
Says "Visitors forbidden"-  
  
And we ain't kiddin'!  
  
Here come the Jets,  
  
Yeah! An' we're gonna beat  
  
Ev'ry last buggin' gang  
  
On the whole buggin' street!  
  
On the whole  
  
Ever-!  
  
Mother-!  
  
Lovin'-!  
  
Street!  
  
~~  
  
And the lights blacked out. The audience started clapping right away.  
  
AND BACKSTAGE AGAIN  
  
"Ryo, Ryo, you're up next!!"  
  
Ryo sighed, and walked behind the curtain. 'Well, he goes nothing...' he thought, sitting down in a chair with a sign, as the curtain raised.  
  
Josh, or Riff, was talking to Ryo (Tony).  
  
"Riga tiga tum tum. Why not? You can't say ya won't, Tony boy, without sayin' why not? Because it's me askin': Riff. Womb to tomb!"  
  
"Sperm to worm!" Ryo said back, and looked down at the sign that said, DOC'S. "You sure this looks like skywritin'?"  
  
"It's brilliant."  
  
"Twenty-seven years the boss has had that drugstore. I wanna surprise him with a new sign."  
  
Riff started shaking the ladder. "Tony, this is important!"  
  
"Very important: Acemen, Rocketmen."  
  
"What's with you? Four and one-half year I live with a buddy and his family. Four and one-half years I think I know a man's character. Buddy boy, I am a victim of disappointment in you," Riff said.  
  
"End your sufferin', little man," Ryo exclaimed, "Why don't you pack up your gear and clear out?"  
  
"'Cause your ma's hot for me." Riff said, as Ryo got up and twisted Josh's arm. "No! 'Cause I hate livin' with my buggin' uncle uncle...UNCLE!" Ryo released him.  
  
"Now go play nice with the Jets."  
  
"The Jets are the greatest!" Riff shouted.  
  
"Were."  
  
"Are. You found something' better?"  
  
"No, but - "  
  
"But what?" Riff asked.  
  
"You won't dig it."  
  
"Try me."  
  
Ryo sighed. "Okay...every single damn night for the last month, I wake up...and I'm reachin' out."  
  
"For what?"  
  
"I don't know. It's right outside the door, around the corner. But it's comin'!"  
  
"What is? Tell me!" Riff asked, impatient.  
  
"I don't know! It's like the kick I use to get from bein' a Jet."  
  
".Or from bein buddies," Riff said quietly.  
  
"We're still buddies."  
  
"The kick comes from the people, buddy boy."  
  
"Yea, but not from a Jet."  
  
"No? Without a gang you're an orphan. With a gang you walk in two's three's four's. And when your gang is the best, when you're a Jet, buddy boy, you're out in the sun and home free home!" Riff explained.  
  
"Riff, I've had it."  
  
"Tony, the trouble is large!" Riff said, "The Sharks bite hard! We got to stop them now, and we need you! I never asked the time of a day from a clock, but I'm askin' you: Come to the dance tonight," Ryo looked away. "I already told the gang you'd be there." (A/N: You might be laughing like my friends were laughing when they saw this. NO, RIFF IS NOT ASKING TONY OUT ON A DATE! ^_^)  
  
Riff started to walk away, before Ryo said, "What time?"  
  
"Ten?" Riff exclaimed, surprised.  
  
"Ten it is."  
  
Riff walked back, very happy. "Womb to tomb!"  
  
"Sperm to worm! And I'll live to regret this."  
  
"Who knows? Maybe what you're waitin' for'll be twitchin' at the dance!" And with that, Josh ran off the set, to the bawling Mrs. Tenner.  
  
"I love you boy!" Mrs. Tenner sobbed, "Here! Have a piece of gum! You deserve it." Behind Mrs. Tenner, Isabelle shrugged to Josh.  
  
Back on stage, Ryo repeated the phrase Josh had just said. "Who knows?" Music started to play, and Ryo sang,  
  
"Could be!  
  
Who knows?  
  
There's something due any day;  
  
I will know right away,  
  
Soon as it shows.  
  
It may come cannon-balling down thru the sky,  
  
Gleam in its eye,  
  
Bright as a rose!  
  
Who knows?  
  
It's only just out of reach,  
  
Down the block, on a beach,  
  
Under a tree...  
  
I got a feeling there's a miracle due,  
  
Gonna come true,  
  
Coming to me!  
  
Could it be? Yes it could.  
  
Something's coming, something good,  
  
If I can wait!  
  
Something's coming, I don't know what it is,  
  
But it is  
  
Gonna be great!  
  
With a click, with a shock,  
  
Phone'll jingle, door'll knock,  
  
Open the latch!  
  
Something's coming, don't know when but it's soon-  
  
Catch the moon,  
  
One-handed catch!  
  
Around the corner,  
  
Or whistling down the river,  
  
Come on-deliver  
  
To me!  
  
Will it be? Yes, it will.  
  
Maybe just by holding still,  
  
It'll be there!  
  
Come on something, come on in,  
  
don't be shy,  
  
Meet a guy,  
  
Pull up a chair!" Ryo pulled up the chair he was sitting on before.  
  
"The air is humming,  
  
And something great is coming!  
  
Who knows?  
  
It's only just out of reach,  
  
Down the block, on a beach.  
  
Maybe tonight, Maybe tonight." And with that last chord, the light dimmed, and Ryo let out a sigh of relief. He was in the next act...but Rika was.  
  
All the cast backstage except for two people, Rika and this girl Sarah, who were on stage. Rika bit her lip, then closed her eyes, and thought, "I can do this." The light dimmed back on, and Rika knew there was no way out now.  
  
Rika stood in the middle of the stage, while Sarah, who was playing Anita, sat at a sewing machine.  
  
"Por favor, Anita," Rika said, in a Spanish sort of accent, "Make the neck lower!"  
  
"Stop it, Maria," Anita said, working at sewing.  
  
"One inch," Rika exclaimed, "How much can one little inch do?"  
  
"Too much," Was Anita's short reply.  
  
Rika sighed in exasperation. "Anita, it is now to be a dress of dancing, no longer for kneeling in front of an altar."  
  
"With those boys you can start in dancing and end up kneeling."  
  
"Querida, one little inch; uno poca poca - " Rika said, holding the scissors in front of Sarah's face.  
  
"Bernardo made me promise - "  
  
"Ai! Bernardo! One month have I been in this country, do I ever even touch excitement? I sew all day, I sit all night. For what did my fine brother bring me here?"  
  
"To marry Chino," Anita said, as if it was the simplest thing in the world.  
  
Rika's voice suddenly got soft and sad, "When I look at Chino, nothing happens."  
  
"What do you expect to happen?"  
  
"I don't know...something. What happens when you look at Bernardo?"  
  
"It's when I don't look at him that it happens." Laughter rang out in the audience.  
  
Rika smiled mischievously, "I think I will tell Mama and Papa about you and 'Nardo in the balcony of the movies."  
  
"I will rip this to shreds!"  
  
"No. But you perhaps could manage to lower the neck..."  
  
"Next year," Anita replied.  
  
"Next year I will be married an no one will care if its down to here!" Rika motioned to her waist.  
  
"Down to where?"  
  
"Down to here." Rika indicated her waist again. "I hate this dress!"  
  
"Then don't wear it and don't come to the dance."  
  
"Don't come!" Rika exclaimed, shocked, "Could we not dye it red, at least?"  
  
"No, we could not." Sarah started to pull the dress over Rika's head.  
  
"White is for babies. I will be the only one there in a white - " Rika stopped as she looked in the mirror.  
  
"Well???" Anita asked.  
  
"Ahhhh...sí! It is a beautiful dress. I love you!" Rika hugged Sarah, and then a guy named Gregg and Katie, dressed up as the boy, entered.  
  
"Are you ready?" Gregg, as Bernardo asked.  
  
"Come in, 'Nardo," Rika said, as she twirled in her dress. Behind the set, Ryo smiled. "Is it not beautiful?"  
  
"Yes." Bernardo said, giving Rika a kiss on the cheek, "Very."  
  
"I didn't quite hear." Anita said, trailing off.  
  
"Very beautiful," Bernardo said, french kissing Sarah.  
  
Rika watched the scene for a second, before she turned to Chino a.k.a. Katie.  
  
"Come in, Chino. Do not be afraid."  
  
"But this is a shop for ladies," Katie tried to say in the most manliest voice she could.  
  
"Our ladies!" Bernardo said.  
  
"'Nardo, it is most important that I have a wonderful time at the dancing tonight," Rika said to her "brother".  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because tonight is the real beginning of my life as a young lady of America!" Rika said, and began twirling off stage.  
  
BACKSTAGE  
  
"Only one more scene left," Ryo muttered to himself. "One more scene..."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Kazu: One scene to what exactly?  
  
Ashley: Read the script...*throws script at Kazu's head*  
  
Kazu: Ow.  
  
Ashley: Anyway, you might be thinking, boring, boring, BORING chapter. Well...the next scene...  
  
Kazu: WHAT IS THE NEXT SCENE?  
  
Ashley: A turning point. Makes the fic a bit more interesting. So, review anyway. Reviews make me feel oh so happy. And also have the hot substitute when Mr. Smith is gone. *sigh* Yeah...he's hot. And I saw 'Anger Management' over the weekend. They played 'I Feel Pretty' a total of eight times in the movie. Well, it went something like this:  
  
Buddy stops Dave's car.  
  
"Why the hell did you do that for?!?!" - Dave  
  
"You need to relax. Do you know 'I Feel Pretty'?" - Buddy  
  
"No..." - Dave  
  
"Come on. I feel pretty, oh so pretty..." - Buddy  
  
"NO! Look! There's a million cars behind us!" - Dave  
  
"I'll wait. Sing!" - Buddy  
  
"*sigh* I feel pretty...*deep breath* oh so pretty...I feel pretty and witty and...*rolls eyes* gay...and I pity...any...GIRL who isn't me today." - Dave  
  
"LA LA LA LA LA LA!" - Buddy  
  
"I feel charming, oh so charming...it's alarming, how charming I feel...and so pretty...that I hardly can believe I'm real." - Dave  
  
"LA LA LA LA LA LA!" - Buddy  
  
"See that pretty girl in the mirror there?" - Dave  
  
"WHAT MIRROR WHERE?!" - Buddy  
  
"Who can that attractive girl be?" - Dave  
  
"WHICH, WHAT, WHERE, WHOM?" - Buddy  
  
"Such a pretty face (whom), such a pretty dress (whom), such a pretty smile (whom), SUCH A PRETTY ME!" - Dave  
  
"I feel stunning and entrancing, feel like running and dancing for joy, for I'm loved by a pretty wonderful boy!" - Both, getting really into the song  
  
~~~  
  
And that was only one of the eight times they mentioned that song, but it was the first time. Anyway, movie rocked, suggest you go and see it, and REVIEW PLEASE!  
  
Kazu: And remember, COOKIES!  
  
P.S. If you wanna listen to some of the songs in West Side Story, e-mail or IM me (Cutensweet7 or Cutensweet7@aol.com), and I'll give you the site. 


	7. Tonight

Chapter Seven: Tonight  
  
Ashley: I don't feel really happy right now since Clay Aiken lost American Idol, and I lost this chapter before. So, getting to cookie handouts to these people, and comments:  
  
EvilVidel - YEAH! My story is now called 'THE FRIGGEN STORY!'  
  
Rika1332 - Clay won in my eyes, and GIVE BACK THOSE COOKIES!  
  
Lilcherryblossom - One scene till...well, you'll find out...  
  
myself - Wow, people are very impatient these days...  
  
Dragongirl - Every chapter is boring to me...  
  
Digifreak103 - Cookies are YUMMY not INTERESTING!  
  
KitKat - Here they meet. And I updated!  
  
The Anti Fluffy - My story has a climax?! I didn't know that...^_^  
  
Note to Katie: You're just fit for playing guys...  
  
Ashley: Quickly, here's the disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. Now onto chapter seven!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Mrs. Tenner was finally able to relax a bit, but then she noticed that they were on "the scene".  
  
"OMIGOSH! Costumes, everyone, costumes! MAKE ME PROUD!" Mrs. Tenner shouted, as girls fixed their dresses and hair.  
  
Then it was time for the scene. The curtain was rising.  
  
All the cast was onstage, dancing. Suddenly, Rika entered with Katie, and Sarah with Gregg. A spokesman came forward.  
  
"All right, boys and girls! Attention, please! Attention!" The officer, Krupke, appeared behind the spokesman, Glad Hand, which shut up the audience almost immediately. "Thank you. It sure is fine turnout tonight. We want to make friends here, so we're going to have a few get-together dances. You form two circles: boys on the outside and girls on the inside."  
  
"Where are you?" Takato asked.  
  
Glad Hand tried to laugh. "All right. Now when the music stops, each boy dances with whichever girl is opposite. Okay? Okay. Two circles, kids." The kids still didn't move. "Well, it won't hurt you to try."  
  
Takato staggered forward. "Oh, it hurts, it hurts, it - " Krupke came into view, and Takato meekly returned to his place.  
  
Suddenly, Riff came forward, and beckoned to his girlfriend, Velma, which also was Jeri. Jeri took Josh's hand, and then Bernardo and Anita took their place too. Then the other kids followed, making two circles.  
  
"That's it, kids. Keep the ball rolling. Round she goes and where she stops, nobody knows. All right: here we go!" The music started, and the music stopped with the Jet boy opposite to the Shark girls and visa versa. But each leader took their girlfriend, and the "get-together" failed.  
  
Everyone started dancing the mambo, and Rika and Ryo walked out on opposite sides of the room. They both had been cheering for their friends, but when they saw each other, their voices died, smiles faded, and hands slowly went to their sides. The lights faded on the crowd, and a delicate cha-cha started playing, and Ryo and Rika moved slowly forward to meet each other. They started to dance this strange dance, but never taking their eyes off another. Suddenly, Ryo spoke up.  
  
"You're not thinking I'm someone else?" Ryo asked softly.  
  
"I know you are not," Rika answered, just as soft.  
  
"Or that we have met before?"  
  
"I know we have not."  
  
"I felt, I knew something never before was going to happen, had to happen. But this is - " Ryo started but Rika interrupted him.  
  
"My hands are cold." Rika grabbed Ryo's hands and felt a chill go up her spine. "Yours, too." Ryo moved her hand so it was touching his face. "So warm." And then Ryo's hands were touching Rika's face.  
  
"Yours, too," Ryo said.  
  
"But of course. They are the same."  
  
"It's so much to believe...you're not joking me?" Ryo asked.  
  
"I have not yet learned how to joke that way," Rika told him, "I think now I never will."  
  
Ryo took Rika's hands and kissed them. Rika shivered impusively. And then he leaned forward to kiss Rika on the lips. As soon as Ryo's lips touched Rika's, Bernardo jumped in, which was a good thing, because if he didn't, everyone would have seen Rika step back, shocked. And Ryo did the same. For a moment, both of them were shocked at what had happened. Then Ryo remembered he still had to go on with the play.  
  
"Go home, "American."" Bernardo yelled, as he jumped in between Ryo and Rika.  
  
"Slow down, Bernardo," Ryo said.  
  
"Stay away from my sister!" Bernardo shouted.  
  
"Sister?" Ryo asked, surprised. At that moment, Riff also stepped up.  
  
Bernardo turned to Rika. "Couldn't you see he's one of them?"  
  
"No, I saw only him," Rika explained.  
  
"I told you, there's one thing they want from a Puerto Rican girl!" Bernardo yelled to Rika as Chino (Katie) joined the conversation.  
  
"That's a lie!" Ryo exclaimed.  
  
"Cool, boy," Josh said.  
  
"Get away." Katie warned to Ryo.  
  
"You keep out, Chino," Ryo told Katie, then turned to Rika, "Don't listen to them!"  
  
"She will listen to brother before - "  
  
"If you characters want to settle - "  
  
Glad Hand stepped in the about-to-be fight. "Please! Everything was going so well! Do you fellows get pleasure out of making trouble? Now come on, it won't hurt you to have a good time."  
  
So the music started again with Bernardo on one side with Maria and Chino, and Anita, who had just joined them. Ryo was on the other side with Riff and Diesel.  
  
"I warned you - " Bernardo said to Rika.  
  
"Do not yell at her, 'Nardo," Chino cut in.  
  
"You yell at babies."  
  
"And put ideas in the baby's head," Anita said.  
  
"Take her home, Chino," Bernardo ordered.  
  
"'Nardo, it is my first dance," Rika protested.  
  
"Please. We are family, Maria. Go." At first Rika hesitated, but then Rika left with Chino, and passed Ryo's group on the way.  
  
"I guess the kid's with us for sure now," Riff joked about Tony (Ryo). But Ryo wasn't listening. He was watching Rika, who had stopped in front of him.  
  
"Come, Maria," Katie said, as they both continued out.  
  
"Maria..." Ryo said softly. Ryo was unaware that Bernardo was coming toward him, but then Riff got in Bernardo's way.  
  
"I don't want you," Bernardo snarled.  
  
"I want you, though," Riff said. (A/N: Laugh all you want people. My friends and I laughed for the longest time, we still believe that Riff WANTS Bernardo. Actually WANTS him...) "For a war council...Jets and Sharks."  
  
"The pleasure is all mine." (A/N: Laugh here too.)  
  
"Let's go outside." (A/N: And here. Heck, just keep laughing through this whole scene.)  
  
"I would not leave the ladies here alone. We will meet you in half an hour," Bernardo said.  
  
"Doc's drugstore?" Riff asked, as Bernardo nodded. "And no jazz before then."  
  
"I understand the rules...Native Boy." Bernardo said, lights faded on them, all except for Ryo.  
  
"Spread the word, Diesel," Riff said.  
  
"Right, Daddy-o," Diesel said.  
  
"Let's get the chicks and kick it. Tony?" Riff looked over at the love- struck boy.  
  
"Maria..." Ryo repeated the name, and music began to start.  
  
"Tony!" a voice, which was Riff's, came through the darkness.  
  
"Ah, we'll see him at Doc's," Another voice sounded in the darkness.  
  
Suddenly Ryo was the only thing you could see onstage, and he started singing, dreamily, "The most beautiful sound I ever heard."  
  
"Maria, Maria, Maria, Maria..." echoed voices offstage.  
  
"All the beautiful words of the world in a single word..." Ryo sang.  
  
"Maria, Maria, Maria, Maria..." Came the voices again. The music was louder and Ryo started singing louder too.  
  
"Maria!  
  
I've just met a girl named Maria,  
  
And suddenly that name  
  
Will never be the same  
  
To me.  
  
Maria!  
  
I've just kissed a girl named Maria,  
  
And suddenly I've found  
  
How wonderful a sound  
  
Can be!  
  
Maria!  
  
Say it loud and there's music playing  
  
Say it soft and it's almost like praying  
  
Maria...  
  
I'll never stop saying  
  
Maria!  
  
The most beautiful sound I ever heard.  
  
Maria"  
  
~~  
  
With Ryo singing, a choir sounded in the background. Ryo was left onstage, alone, while the rest of the cast was setting up for the next scene.  
  
~~  
  
"I've just met a girl named Maria,  
  
And suddenly that name  
  
Will never be the same  
  
To me.  
  
Maria-  
  
I've just kissed a girl named Maria,  
  
And suddenly I've found  
  
How wonderful a sound  
  
Can be!  
  
~~  
  
And then it was only Ryo again.  
  
~~  
  
Maria  
  
Say it loud and there's music playing  
  
Say it soft and it's almost like praying  
  
Maria  
  
I'll never stop saying Maria!  
  
The most beautiful sound I ever heard  
  
Maria."  
  
The lights dimmed, and the stage was set up for the next scene. Rika was in this scene, and she was ready to come out of the window of the balcony, which was actually just a prop. So, Rika was standing in front of the prop, looking up at the stairs which she would have to climb in a couple seconds, to get out of the "window".  
  
'What just happened?' Rika asked herself over and over. Something definitely happened in that last scene, but she had no idea what it was. And when Ryo kissed her...  
  
Rika shook her head to get rid of her thoughts, as the lights came back on for the next scene.  
  
Ryo came in on the opposite side of that stage, shouting, "Maria! Maria!"  
  
Rika appeared on the balony below her window. "Ssh!"  
  
"Maria!"  
  
"Quiet!"  
  
"Come down."  
  
"No," Rika said.  
  
"Maria..."  
  
"Please. If Bernardo - " Rika started, but Ryo cut her off.  
  
"He's at the dance. Come down."  
  
"He will soon bring Anita home."  
  
"Just for a minute," Ryo pleaded.  
  
Rika suddenly smiled. "A minute is not enough."  
  
Ryo matched Rika's smile. "For an hour then."  
  
"I cannot."  
  
"Forever!" Ryo shouted.  
  
"Ssh!"  
  
"Then I'm coming up." Ryo started up the ladder.  
  
A voice came from an offstage apartment, "Maria!"  
  
"Momentito, Mama." Rika called back.  
  
"Maria, Maria - " Ryo said.  
  
"Cállate!" Rika reached out for hand to stop him. "Ssh!"  
  
"Ssh!"  
  
"It is dangerous," Rika said.  
  
"I'm not 'one of them'," Ryo tried to explain.  
  
"You are, but to me, you are not. Just as I am one of them - " Rika gestered to the apartment.  
  
"To me, you are all the - " Ryo said, but Rika covered his mouth with her hand.  
  
"Maruca!" A man's voice shouted.  
  
"Sí, ya vengo, Papa," Rika called out again.  
  
"Maruca?"  
  
Rika laughed. "His pet name for me."  
  
"I like him. He will like me."  
  
"No," Rika said, sadly, "He is like Bernardo, afraid." Then she laughed. "Imagine being afraid of you!"  
  
"You see?"  
  
Rika touched Ryo's face, sending the chills down her spine again. "I see you."  
  
"See only me."  
  
Rika then began to sing, and everyone back stage stopped, for Rika was even a better singer than Brittany was.  
  
"Only you, you're the only thing I'll see forever.  
  
In my eyes, in my words and in everything I do,  
  
Nothing else but you  
  
Ever!  
  
Ryo took the song from there, "And there's nothing for me but Maria,  
  
Every sight that I see is Maria."  
  
"Tony, Tony..." Rika sang.  
  
Then it was Ryo again. "Always you, every thought I'll ever know,  
  
Everywhere I go, you'll be."  
  
Rika took over. "All the world is only you and me!  
  
"Tonight, tonight,  
  
It all began tonight,  
  
I saw you and the world went away.  
  
Tonight, tonight,  
  
There's only you tonight,  
  
What you are, what you do, what you say."  
  
Ryo's turn. "Today, all day I had the feeling  
  
A miracle would happen-  
  
I know now I was right.  
  
Then it was both. "For here you are  
  
And what was just a world is a star  
  
Tonight!  
  
Tonight, tonight,  
  
The world is full of light,  
  
With suns and moons all over the place.  
  
Tonight, tonight,  
  
The world is wild and bright,  
  
Going mad, shooting stars into space.  
  
Today the world was just an address,  
  
A place for me to live in,  
  
No better than all right,  
  
But here you are  
  
And what was just a world is a star  
  
Tonight!"  
  
"Maruca!" A voice shouted offstage.  
  
"Wait for me!" And then Rika disappeared through the window. A couple seconds later, she came back. "I cannot stay. Go quickly!"  
  
"I'm not afraid," Ryo told her.  
  
"They are strict with me. Please." For the second time, they kissed, and they both had that same feeling.  
  
"Good night," Ryo said after they broke away.  
  
"Buenos noches."  
  
"I love you." Those three worlds sounded real to Rika.  
  
"Yes, yes. Hurry." Ryo started down the ladder. "Wait! When will I see you?" Ryo started to climb back up. "No!"  
  
"Tomorrow."  
  
"I work at the bridal shop. Come there," Rika said.  
  
"At sundown."  
  
"Yes. Good night."  
  
"Good night." Ryo started to walk off.  
  
"Tony!" Rika almost shouted.  
  
"Ssh!"  
  
"Come to the back door."  
  
"Si." Again, Ryo started to walk away.  
  
"Tony!" Rika called out once again and Ryo stopped. "What does Tony stand for?"  
  
"Anton."  
  
"Te adoro, Anton."  
  
"Te adoro, Maria."  
  
Both started singing as the music started up again,  
  
"Good night, good night,  
  
Sleep well and when you dream,  
  
Dream of me  
  
Tonight.  
  
Rika went back inside, as Ryo ducked into the shadows.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Kazu: Wait a second, this isn't the end of the scene...  
  
Ashley: Scene is too long. It's cut halfway through.  
  
Kazu: OH, REVIEW!  
  
Ashley: Reviews mean cookies. Oh, BTW, I LOVE YOU CLAY! YOU'RE STILL MY AMERICAN IDOL! America is just...wrong. I still congratulate Ruben though! YAY RUUUUUUUUUBEN! I never will forget when Ruben sang 'A Whole New World.' I still like Clay many times more though. So, review...yeah...and read 'How about now?' written by...ME...as a result of Clay losing.  
  
BUILD ME UP CLAY!  
  
Well, I'm also going to the American Idol tour show thingy! I GET TO SEE CLAY! EEEEEEEEKKKKKKK!!!!!!!  
  
R&R. 


	8. America and Cool

Chapter Eight: America and Cool  
  
Ashley: *watches video again* Why do you build me up Buttercup, baby, just to let me down and mess me around. And then worst of all you never call, baby, when you say you will but I love you still.  
  
Rika: Since Ashley is too busy watching Clay Ackin videos...  
  
Ashley: AIKEN!  
  
Rika: Yeah. Anyway, she's way too involved in watching Clay, whether it's on U-Pick Live or just her CD. She's obessed with Clay...uh...AIKEN.  
  
Ashley: GO CLAY! Grease is the time, is the place, is the motion. Grease is the way we are feeling! SHAKE THOSE HIPS CLAY!  
  
Kazu: O_O  
  
Rika: Um...cookie handouts, with some comments from Ashley, to Digifreak103, Akino Matoumiken, The Anti Fluffy, anonymous (well, West Side Story is kinda weird...) Rika1332 (Ruben rocked at that song, but Clay is still my favorite), Dark-Angel, lilcherryblossom, and Kit Kat.  
  
A quick disclaimer: Ashley doesn't own Clay -  
  
Ashley: I WILL!  
  
Rika: Or West Side Story...Digimon...Sarah...Amber (who has disappeared in this fic or something) or Katie...  
  
Ashley: *runs upstairs to get American Idol tapes*  
  
Kazu: Read. (Kinda long because it's two scenes.)  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
By now, Mrs. Tenner was crying. "You guys make me so proud..."  
  
Isabelle came through the door to where Mrs. Tenner was, and immediately turned around. "Please don't see me, please don't see me..." Isabelle prayed.  
  
Spotlight on the play again...  
  
Bernardo and Anita entered the stage, followed by Indio and Pep. Their girls, Consuelo and Rosalia follow. Bernardo looked up at the window. "Maria?"  
  
"She also has a mother. Also a father," Anita said.  
  
"They do not know the country any better than she does."  
  
"You do not know it all! Girls here are free to have fun. She. is. in. America. now," Anita explained.  
  
But Puerto. Rico. is. in. America. now!"  
  
"Ai!" Anita said in digust.  
  
"Anita Josefina Teresita - "  
  
"It's plain Anita now - "  
  
Bernardo continued. "Beatriz del Carmen Margarita, etcetera, etcetera - "  
  
"Immigrant!"  
  
"Thank God, you can't change your hair!"  
  
"Is that possible?" Pepe asked, fondling with Consuleo's hair.  
  
"In the U.S.A., everything is real," Consuleo said.  
  
At that point, Katie entered. "Chino, how was she when you took her home?"  
  
"All right. 'Nardo, she was only dancing," Chino said, trying to defend her.  
  
"With an "American." Who is really a Polack."  
  
"Says the Spic," Anita exclaimed.  
  
Bernardo looked over at Anita. "You are not so cute."  
  
Anita smiled. "That Tony is."  
  
"And he works," Rosalia added.  
  
"A delivery boy," Chino said.  
  
"And what are you?" Anita questioned.  
  
"An assistant."  
  
"Sí!" Bernardo said, "And Chino makes half what the Polack makes...the Polack is American! The mother of Tony was born in Poland; the father still goes to a night school. Tony was born in America, so that makes him an American. But us? Foreigners!"  
  
"Lice!" Pepe and Consuleo said.  
  
"Cockroaches!" Pepe, Consuelo, and Anita exclaimed.  
  
"Well, it is true!" Bernardo said, "You remember how we were when we first came! Did we even think of going back?"  
  
"No! We came ready, eager - "  
  
"With our hearts open - "  
  
"Our arms open - "  
  
"You came with your pants open."  
  
"You did, pig!" Consuelo slapped Pepe. "You'll go back with handcuffs!"  
  
"I am going back with a Cadillac!"  
  
"Air-conditioned!"  
  
"Built-in bar!"  
  
"Telephone!"  
  
"Television!"  
  
"Compatible color!"  
  
"And a king-sized bed," Benardo finished, grabbing Anita. "Come on."  
  
Anita mimicked him. "Come on."  
  
"Well, are you or aren't you?"  
  
"You have your big, important war council. The council or me?" Anita asked.  
  
"First one, then the other."  
  
Anita broke away from Bernardo. "I am an American girl now. I don't wait."  
  
Bernardo whispered to Chino, "Back home, women know their place."  
  
But Anita heard him. "Back home, little boys don't have war councils."  
  
"You want me to be an American?" Bernardo turned to the boys. "Vámonos, chicos, Es tarde." Then he bowed and turned to Anita. "Buenos noches, Anita Josefina del Carmen, etc., etc., etc." Then Bernardo exited with the boys.  
  
"That's a very pretty name: Etc." Rosalia said.  
  
"Ai!" Anita sighed.  
  
"She means well," Consuelo said.  
  
"We have many names at home," Rosalia exclaimed.  
  
"At home, at home. If it's so nice "at home," why don't you go back there?"  
  
"I would like - " Anita gave her a mean look, and Rosalia added, "Just for a successful visit." Then Rosalia started singing. (A/N: Yes, ANOTHER song.)  
  
"Puerto Rico.  
  
You lovely island.  
  
Island of tropical breezes.  
  
Always the pineapples growing,  
  
Always the coffee blossoms blowing."  
  
Anita took the song from there, Puerto Rico.  
  
"You ugly island.  
  
Island of tropic diseases.  
  
Always the hurricanes blowing,  
  
Always the population growing.  
  
And the money owing,  
  
And the babies crying,  
  
And the bullets flying.  
  
I like the island Manhattan-  
  
Smoke on your pipe and put that in!  
  
Then all the girls on stage, in really frilly dresses except Rosalia started singing.  
  
"I like to be in America!  
  
Okay by me in America!  
  
Everything free in America  
  
For a small fee in America!"  
  
Rosalia sang. "I like the city of San Juan."  
  
Anita - "I know a boat you can get on."  
  
Rosalia - "Hundreds of flowers in full bloom."  
  
Anita - "Hundreds of people in each room!"  
  
All - "Automobile in America,  
  
Chromium steel in America,  
  
Wire-spoke wheel in America."  
  
Very big deal in America."  
  
Rosalia - "I'll drive a Buick to San Juan-"  
  
Anita - "If there's a road you can drive on."  
  
Rosalia - "I'll give my cousin a free ride-"  
  
Anita - "How you get all of them inside?"  
  
All - "An immigrant goes to America,  
  
Many hellos in America;  
  
Nobody knows in America  
  
Puerto Rico's in America."  
  
The girls took a moment to whistle and dance in their frilly dresses onstage. Mrs. Tenner was practically doing a happy dance herself backstage.  
  
Rosalia - "When will I go back to San Juan-"  
  
Anita - "When you will shut up and get gone!"  
  
Rosalia - "I'll give them new washing machine-"  
  
Anita - "What have they got there to keep clean?"  
  
All - "I like the shores of America!  
  
Comfort is yours in America!  
  
Knobs on the doors in America,  
  
Wall-to-wall floors in America!"  
  
And the girls continued with their spanish-like dance in the spanish-like dresses.  
  
Rosalia - "I'll bring TV to San Juan."  
  
Anita - "If there's a current to turn on."  
  
Rosalia - "Everyone there will get big cheer!"  
  
Anita - "Everyone there will have moved here!"  
  
The music kept playing for awhile while the girls kept dancing. Then the song ended, and the lights blacked out. The girls walked offstage, while Mrs. Tenner handed them candy.  
  
"I love you, Sarah. I love you, Jenny. I love you, Katherine," Mrs. Tenner sobbed to each person passing by. The girls all shot Mrs. Tenner weird looks.  
  
"Okay, the show must keep going...the first act is ALMOST over...well, kinda."  
  
The curtain raised again to show the inside of Doc's. All the Jets were lounging around.  
  
"Where the devil are they?" Kazu asked, "Are we havin' a war council tonight or ain't we?" Angerily, he threw a dart.  
  
"He don't use knives. He don't even use an atomic ray gun," Baby John said, reading a comic book.  
  
"Superman." Kenta looked over at what Baby John was reading. "Gee, I love him."  
  
"So marry him," Kazu said. (A/N: Actually, I have no clue who says this. It says Snowboy, but he doesn't appear in this scene until later...so...I dunno.)  
  
"I ain't never gonna get married," Ashley exclaimed, standing by the jukebox, "Too noisy."  
  
"You ain't never gonna get married," Kenta said, "Too ugly."  
  
Ashley pretending she was shooting Kenta. "Pow pow!"  
  
"Cracko, jacko!" Kenta cried out, clutching his belly and spinning to the floor. (A/N: No, I have no idea 'cracko jacko' means either...) "Down goes a teen-age hoodlum."  
  
"Could a zip gun make you do like that?" Baby John asked.  
  
A second of silence passed until Takato burst into the room, making everyone jump.  
  
"What the hell's a matter with you?" Kazu asked.  
  
"I got caught sneakin' outa the movies," Takato said.  
  
"Sneakin' out? Whadd'ya do that for?" Kenta exclaimed.  
  
"I sneaked in."  
  
"A war council comin' up and he goes to the movies," Kazu said, shaking his head.  
  
"And you let him be a Jet!" Ashley shouted.  
  
"Ah, go walk the streets like ya sister," Baby John said.  
  
Ashley jumped the poor boy. "Lissen, jail bait, I licked you twice and I can do it again!" At that moment, a man entered behind the counter....HENRY! (A/N: Sorry...but Henry's been gone for the past couple chapters...)  
  
"Curfew, gentlemen," Henry said, "And lady." Ashley scowled. "Baby John, you should be home in bed."  
  
"We're gonna have a war council here, Doc."  
  
"A who?" Henry asked, confused.  
  
"To decide on weapons for a big-time rumble!" Kenta explained.  
  
"We're gonna mix with the PRs," Takato added.  
  
"Weapons," Henry said, "You couldn't play basketball?"  
  
"Get with it, buddy boy," Ashley said.  
  
"War councils - " Henry started.  
  
"Don't start, Doc," Kazu said.  
  
"Rumbles..."  
  
"Doc - "  
  
"Why, when I was your age - " Henry said, but Kazu cut him off.  
  
"When you was my age, when my old man was my age, when my brother was my age! You was never my age, none a you! The sooner you creeps get a hip to that, the sooner you'll dig us."  
  
"I'll dig you early graves, that's what I'll do," Henry said.  
  
"Dig, dig, dig - " Kenta exclaimed. (A/N: The Holes song, Dig It Up! Dig it up, oh oh!)  
  
"What're you gonna be when you grow up?" Henry asked.  
  
"A telephone call girl!" Ashley said, wistfully.  
  
Just then, the store doorbell tinkled as Riff entered with Velma (Jeri).  
  
"Riff, hey!" Takato said.  
  
"Are they comin'?" Kazu questioned.  
  
"Unwind, Action. Hey, Doc, Tony here?"  
  
"No, Riff, it's closing time."  
  
Kazu turned to Riff. "What d'ya think they're gonna ask for?"  
  
"Just rubber hoses, maybe, huh?" Kenta joked.  
  
"Cool, little men. Easy, freezy cool."  
  
"Oo, oo, ooblee-oo," Jeri exclaimed.  
  
Diesel enetered with his girlfriend, Graziella.  
  
"They're comin' any minute now!" Diesel announced.  
  
"Chung chung!"  
  
"Cracko, jacko!"  
  
"Ooblee-oo."  
  
"Cool!" Riff said, sharply.  
  
"Riff," Ashley said, walking over to him, "In a tight spot you need every man you - "  
  
"No."  
  
"An American tragedy," Graziella said to Jeri, indicating Ashley.  
  
"Pow." Ashley "shot" her.  
  
"Poo." Graziella started examining her nails.  
  
"Ooblee-pooh." Jeri ignored Ashley, then both of them started to giggle.  
  
"Now when the victims come in, you chicks cut out," Riff said.  
  
"We might, and then again, we might not."  
  
"This ain't kid stuff, Graziella."  
  
"I and Velma aint kid stuff, neither. Are we, Vel?"  
  
"No thank you-oo, ooblee-oo," Jeri said.  
  
"And you can punctuate it?" Graziella asked.  
  
"Ooo!" Jeri said. (A/N: You've gotta hear this to hear the stupidness.) She and the other girl started giggling again.  
  
"What're we poppin' around with dumb broads?" Kazu asked Riff.  
  
"I and Velma ain't dumb!" Graziella exclaimed.  
  
"We got important business comin'," Kazu said.  
  
"Makin' trouble for the Puerto Ricans?" Henry asked.  
  
"They make trouble for us," Takato said.  
  
"Look! He almost laughs when he says it. For you, trouble is a relief."  
  
"We've got to stand up to the PRs, Doc. It's important."  
  
"Fighting over a little piece of the street is so important?"  
  
"To us, it is," Kazu said.  
  
"To hoodlums, it is," Henry finished, going through the cellar doorway and Kazu lunged for him.  
  
"Don't you call me hoodlum!"  
  
Riff held him back. "Easy, Action! Save your steam for the rumble."  
  
"He don't want what we want, so we're hoodlums!"  
  
"I wear a jacket like my buddies, so my teacher calls me hoodlum!"  
  
"I swear, the next creep who calls me hoodlum - "  
  
"You'll laugh! Yeah. Now you all better dig this and dig it the most. No matter who or what is eatin' at you, you show it, buddy boys, and you are dead. You are cuttin' a hole in yourselves for them to stick in a red-hot umbrella and open it. Wide. You wanna live? You play it cool," Riff said, the music starting.  
  
"I wanna get even!" Kazu shouted.  
  
"Get cool," Riff said.  
  
"I wanna bust!" Kenta yelled.  
  
"Bust cool. Go cool!" Then started to sing,  
  
"Boy, boy, crazy boy-  
  
Get cool, boy!  
  
Got a rocket in your pocket- (A/N: WORD OF PRECAUTION: Don't sing this line in school...)  
  
Keep coolly cool, boy!  
  
Don't get hot,  
  
'Cause, man, you got  
  
Some high times ahead.  
  
Take it slow and, Daddy-o,  
  
You can live it up and die in bed!  
  
Boy, boy, crazy boy-  
  
Stay loose, boy! Breeze it, buzz it, easy does it-  
  
Turn off the juice, boy!  
  
Go man, go,  
  
But not like a yo  
  
Yo school boy-  
  
Just play it cool, boy.  
  
Real cool!  
  
Easy, Action.  
  
Easy."  
  
And that song leaded into a dance in which everyone releases their emotions and got "cool". Then the Sharks entered. Jeri and Graziella left, but Ashley stayed behind. Riff spotted her and Ashley gave him the let-me-stay look. But Riff made her go, and on the way out, she shoved the Sharks out of the way.  
  
"Set 'em up, Doc. Cokes all around," Riff said.  
  
"Let's get down to business," Bernardo announced.  
  
"Bernardo hasn't learned the procedures of gracious livin'."  
  
"I don't like you, either. So cut it."  
  
"Kick it, Doc."  
  
"Boys, couldn't you maybe all talk it - " Henry reasoned.  
  
"Kick it!" Riff said.  
  
Henry leaves. The two gangs take places behind their leaders.  
  
"We challenge you to a rumble. All out, once and for all. Accept?"  
  
"On what terms?"  
  
"Whatever terms you're callin', buddy boy," Riff said, "You crossed the line once too often."  
  
"You started it."  
  
"Who jumped A-rab this afternoon?" Riff asked.  
  
"Who jumped me the first day I moved here?" Bernardo shot back.  
  
"Who asked you to moved here?" Riff exclaimed.  
  
"Who asked you?"  
  
"Move where you're wanted!" Takato said behind Riff.  
  
"Back where ya came from!" Kenta added.  
  
"Spics!" Action said.  
  
"Micks!" Pepe exclaimed.  
  
"Wop!" Indio shouted.  
  
"We accept!" Bernardo said.  
  
"Time?"  
  
"Tomorrow."  
  
"The river?" Riff asked.  
  
"Under the highway." They shake.  
  
"Weapons!"  
  
"Weapons..."  
  
"You call."  
  
"You're challenge," Bernardo said.  
  
"Afraid to call?"  
  
"Sticks."  
  
"Rocks."  
  
"Poles."  
  
"Cans."  
  
"Bricks."  
  
"Bats."  
  
"Clubs."  
  
Ryo jumped in the way. "Bottles, knives, guns!" Bernardo and Riff stared at him. "What a coop full of chickens!"  
  
"Every dog knows his own," Bernardo said.  
  
"I'm callin' all of you chicken. The big touch buddy boys have to throw bricks! Afraid to get close in? Afraid to slug it out? Afraid to use plain skin?"  
  
"Not even garbage?" Baby John asked.  
  
"That ain't rumble."  
  
"Who says?" Riff said.  
  
"You said call weapons," Bernardo reminded Riff.  
  
"A rumble can be clinched by a fair fight. If you have the guts to risk that. Best man from each gang to slug it out," Ryo explained.  
  
"I'd enjoy to risk that. Okay! Fair fight!"  
  
"What?" Pepe shouted the same time Action yelled, "No!"  
  
"The commanders say yes or no," Riff told them, then turned to Bernardo, "Fair fight." They shook again.  
  
Bernardo told Ryo, "In two minutes you will be like a fish after skinnin'."  
  
"Your best man fights our best man...and we pick him," Riff said, slapping Diesel on the back.  
  
"But I thought it would be - "  
  
"We shook on it, Bernardo."  
  
"Yes. I shook on it."  
  
"Look, Bernardo," Kazu said, quickly, "If you wanna change your mind, maybe we could all - "  
  
One of the Jets near the door suddenly whistled. In a second, they shift into positions in which Jets and Sharks are playing games together, or just talking together. Silence, and then came in Schrank.  
  
"Good evening, Lieutenant Schrank. I and Tony was just closing up," Henry said.  
  
"Mind?" Schrank asked lifting up an empty box, which was supposed to be a pack of cigarettes.  
  
"I have no mind. I am the village idiot," Henry said. (A/N: Henry being a village idiot...hmm....COOL!)  
  
Schrank lighted a "cigarette". "I always make it a rule to smoke in the can. And what else is a room with half-breeds in it, eh, Riff? Clear out, Spics. Sure; it's a free country and I ain't got the right. But it's a country with laws: and I can find the right. I got the badge, you got the skin. It's tough all over. Beat it!"  
  
A second passed, until Bernardo and his gang left, humming 'My Country Tis of Thee' while leaving.  
  
"From their angle, sure. Say, where's the rumble gonna be? Ah, look, I know regular American don't rub with the gold teeth otherwise. The river? The park?" Schrank asked.  
  
But no one answered and there was silence.  
  
"I'm for you," Schrank continued, "I want this beat cleaned up and you can do it for me. I'll even lend a hand if it gets rough. Where ya gonna rumble? The playground? Sweeney's lot?" He started to sounds angry by the silence. "Ya think I'm a lousy stool pigeon? I wanna help ya get rid of them! Come on! Where's it gonna be?. Get smart, you stupid hoodlums! I oughta fine ya for litterin' the streets. You oughta be taken down the station house and have your skulls mashed to a pulp! You and the tin-horn immigrant scum you come from! How your old man's d.t.'s A-rab? How's the action on your mothers mattress, Action?"  
  
Kazu started to lunge for Shrank, but Riff held him back. Then there was silence again.  
  
"Let him go, buddy boy, just let him go. One of these days there won't be nobody to hold you. I'll find out where ya gonna rumble. But be sure to finish each other off. Because if you don't, I will!"  
  
With that, the gang left. Shrank turned to Henry, "Well, you try keepin' hoodlums in line and see what it does to you." And then Schrank exited.  
  
"Wouldn't give me a mouth like his..." Henry answered, after Shrank left.  
  
"Forget him. From here on in, everything goes my way..." Ryo said, cleaning up the store.  
  
"You think it'll really be a fair fight."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"What have you been takin' tonight?" Henry asked.  
  
"A trip to the moon. And I'll tell you a secret. It isn't a man that's up there, Doc. It's a girl, a lady," Ryo said, opening the door. "Buenos noches, señor."  
  
"Buenos noches?! So that's why you made it a fair fight," Henry exclaimed as Ryo smiled, "Tony...things aren't tough enough?"  
  
"Tough? Doc, I'm in love."  
  
"How do you know?"  
  
"Because...there isn't any other way I could feel," Ryo explained.  
  
"And you're not frightened?" Henry asked.  
  
"Should I be?" Ryo opened the door, and exited.  
  
"Why? I'm frightened enough for both of you." And with that, Henry turned off the last light and the stage went dark.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Ashley: *moans* Is school out yet?  
  
Kazu: Fourteen more days...  
  
Ashley: FOURTEEN?! *sigh* Wait...tonight's the Farewell Dance! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!  
  
Kazu: What's wrong with a dance?  
  
Ashley: Top Ten Reasons To Hate Dances:  
  
10. They're boring...  
  
9. The balloons are everywhere...  
  
8. They are glitter everywhere you look.  
  
7. Decorations are seen everywhere too.  
  
6. You can't find anywhere to sit.  
  
5. You hate dancing.  
  
4. You have to make your hair all fancy.  
  
3. You have to wear a dress.  
  
2. Pictures are taken.  
  
AND NUMBER ONE:  
  
1. No boy asked you to the dance.  
  
Kazu: Wait a second, you don't care about that.  
  
Ashley: You're right, yes. I didn't want anyone to ask me, but it would have been fun to reject some boy. Mwhahahaha...  
  
Kazu: Okay then...  
  
Ashley: Review please. PLEASE?! And Bethany, if you're reading this, HAVE A GREAT TIME AT THE DANCE! Even if you are going with...Chris...so, review, and see you next chapter. Tonight I'll be suffering at a dance lasting three hours, and doing absolutely nothing.  
  
R&R. 


	9. The Rumble

Chapter Nine: The Rumble  
  
Ashley: Okay, so the dance wasn't half-bad. EVEN IF YOU DIDN'T GET ASKED TO DANCE ONE SINGLE TIME! But I don't care about that, so, let's go on.  
  
Kazu: What about the advice thingy?  
  
Ashley: Oh, yes, if you're ever feeling really bad at a dance, go back to your table. There you just might see Andrew, one of your friends, dancing like a maniac. And then you feel a lot better.  
  
Kazu: And you also should stay away from people with cameras. Two reasons: They might bombard you with cameras, asking you to take a picture OR they might just take a picture of YOU.  
  
Ashley: Okay, that's all. Now for cookie handouts...to...Digifreak103 (of course), Dragongirl, Dark-Angel, Lilcherryblossom, and Kit-Kat (the dancing men scared me too).  
  
Kazu: Ashley doesn't own Digimon, West Side Story, Katie, Sarah, and Amber if she appears. And now with chapter nine...  
  
Ashley: One of my fav. scenes!! YAY!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Mrs. Tenner was running around backstage, throwing confetti in the air, that was SUPPOSED to be saved until after the play. But, she was so happy that she was using it early. And, one of the best scenes was coming up.  
  
The curtain raised, and you see Rika pretending to sew a wedding veil, and Anita, who is taking off her smock.  
  
"She's gone! The old bag of a bruja has gone!" Anita exclaimed.  
  
"Bravo!" Rika said.  
  
"The day is over, the jail is open, home we go!" Anita said.  
  
"You go, querida. I will lock up."  
  
"Finish tomorrow. Come!"  
  
"I am in no hurry," Rika exclaimed.  
  
"I am," Anita said, "I'm going to take a bubble bath all during supper, Black Orchid."  
  
"You will not eat?" Rika asked.  
  
"After the rumble...with 'Nardo."  
  
Rika started sewing angrily. "That rumble, why do they have it?"  
  
"You saw how they dance, like they have to get rid of something, quick. That's how they fight."  
  
"To get rid of what?"  
  
"Too much feeling. And they get rid of it, after a fight, that brother of yours is so healthy! Definitely, Black Orchid."  
  
Suddenly, there is a knock on the door, and Ryo enters.  
  
"Buenas noches!" Ryo said.  
  
Anita mimicked Rika. "'You go, querida. I will lock up.'" And then she said to Tony, "It's too early for noches. Buenos tardes."  
  
Ryo bowed. "Gracias. Buenas tardes."  
  
"He just came to deliver aspirin," Rika said.  
  
"You'll need it," Anita exclaimed.  
  
"No, we're out of the world," Ryo said.  
  
"You're out of your heads."  
  
"We're twelve feet in the air."  
  
Rika gently took Ryo's hand. "Anita can see all that." And then asked Anita, "You will not tell?"  
  
"Tell what? How can I hear what goes on twelve feet over my head?" Anita opened the door, and said to Rika, "You better be home in fifteen minutes." And then, she left.  
  
"Don't worry. She likes us!" Ryo said.  
  
"But she is worried."  
  
"She's foolish. We're untouchable, we are in the air, we have magic!" Ryo exclaimed.  
  
"Magic is also evil and black," Rika reminded him, "Are you going to that rumble?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Why??" Ryo asked.  
  
"You must go and stop it," Rika explained.  
  
"I have stopped it! It's only a fist fight. 'Nardo won't get - "  
  
"Any fight is not good for us."  
  
"Everything is good for us and we are good for everything," Ryo said.  
  
"Listen and hear me. You must go and stop it."  
  
"Then I will."  
  
"Can you?" Rika asked, surprised.  
  
"You don't want even a fist fight? There won't be any fight."  
  
"I believe you! You do have magic."  
  
"Of course, I have you," Ryo said, "You go home and dress up. Then tonight, I will come by for you."  
  
"You cannot come by. My mama..."  
  
There was a pause until Ryo said, "Then I will take you to my house - "  
  
Rika shook her head. "Your mama..."  
  
Another awkward pause. Then Ryo grabbed a female dummy and pushed it forward. "She will come running from the kitchen to welcome you. She lives in the kitchen."  
  
"Dressed so elegant?" Rika asked.  
  
"I told her you were coming. She will look at your face and try not to smile. And she will say, skinny...but pretty."  
  
"She is plump no doubt."  
  
Ryo held out the waist of the dummy's dress. "Fat!"  
  
Rika grabbed another female dummy. "I take after my mama; delicate-boned." Ryo came over and tried to kiss Rika. "Not in front of Mama!" Ryo turned the dummy around as Rika went to a male dummy. "Oh, I would like to see Papa in this! Mama will make him ask about your prospects, if you go to church. But Papa...Papa might like you."  
  
Ryo kneeled to the father dummy. "May I have your daughter's hand?" Pause. "Gracias!"  
  
"And your mama?"  
  
"I'm afraid to ask her," Ryo said.  
  
"Tell her she's not getting a daughter, she's getting rid of a son!"  
  
Ryo looked to the dummy. "She says yes."  
  
"She has good taste." Rika grabbed the wedding veil and put it on as Ryo arranged the dummies.  
  
"Maid of honor!" Ryo said.  
  
"That color is bad for Anita."  
  
Ryo grabbed a dummy. "Best man!"  
  
"That is my papa!" Rika laughed.  
  
"Sorry, Pap. Here we go. Riff, womb to tomb!" Ryo took the hat off the dummy.  
  
"Now you see, Anita, I told you there was nothing to worry about," Rika said to a dummy.  
  
The music started as she leaves the dummy and walked up to Ryo. They look at each other, and the play-acting vanishes. Slowly, seriously, they turn forward and kneel in front of an alter.  
  
"I, Anton, take thee Maria..."  
  
"I, Maria, take thee Anton..."  
  
"For richer, for poorer..."  
  
"In sickness and in health..."  
  
"To love and to honor..."  
  
"To hold and to keep..."  
  
"From each sun to each moon..."  
  
"From tomorrow to tomorrow..."  
  
"For now to forever..."  
  
"Till death do us part."  
  
"With this ring, I thee wed." Ryo put an imaginary ring on Rika's ring finger.  
  
"With this ring, I thee wed." Rika did the same.  
  
Ryo started to sing, "Make of our hands one hand,  
  
Make of our hearts one heart,  
  
Make of our vows one last vow:  
  
Only death will part us now.  
  
And Rika sang, "Make of our lives one life,  
  
Day after day, one life."  
  
And both. "Now it begins, now we start  
  
One hand, one heart-  
  
Even death won't part us now."  
  
Both looked at each other, and then at the reality of their "game". They smiled, and slowly put the dummies back to where they were. Though brought back to earth, they continued to sing.  
  
"Make of our lives one life,  
  
Day after day, one life.  
  
Now it begins, now we start  
  
One hand, one heart-  
  
Even death won't part us now."  
  
Very gently, Ryo kissed Rika's hand and the lights faded.  
  
Mrs. Tenner was wiping her eyes, when Ryo and Rika walked backstage.  
  
"You guys looked so...I dunno...real out there. You both are born actors!" Mrs. Tenner said, as the stage was being set up for the next scene.  
  
The curtain started to raise, so they all rushed off to get in their places.  
  
In different places, The Jets, Sharks, and other members are walking down the alleyways, waiting for the rumble to come. All they were all singing songs,  
  
"The Jets are gonna have their day...tonight."  
  
And the Sharks..."The Sharks are gonna have their way...tonight."  
  
The Jets. "The Puerto Rican grumble,  
  
"Fair fight."  
  
But if they start a rumble,  
  
We'll rumble 'em right."  
  
The Sharks. "We're gonna hand 'em a surprise...tonight."  
  
And back to the Jets. "We're gonna cut 'em down to size...tonight."  
  
The Sharks. "We said, "O.K., no rumpus,  
  
No tricks"-  
  
But just in case they jump us,  
  
We're ready to mix  
  
Tonight!"  
  
And both gangs. "We're gonna rock it tonight,  
  
We're gonna jazz it up and have us a ball.  
  
They're gonna get it tonight;  
  
The more they turn it on, the harder they'll fall!  
  
Jets. "Well, they began it..."  
  
Sharks. "Well, they began it..."  
  
And both. "And we're the ones to stop 'em once and for all...tonight!"  
  
Then the spotlight shined in the corner of the stage, where Anita was dressed up in a black dress, singing,  
  
"Anita's gonna get her kicks...tonight.  
  
We'll have our private little mix...tonight.  
  
He'll walk in hot and tired,  
  
So what?  
  
Don't matter if he's tired,  
  
As long as he's hot...tonight!"  
  
And then you got to hear Ryo sing.  
  
"Tonight, tonight,  
  
Won't be just any night,  
  
Tonight there will be no morning star.  
  
Tonight, tonight,  
  
I'll see my love tonight  
  
And for us, stars will stop where they are.  
  
Today  
  
The minutes seem like hours,  
  
The hours go so slowly,  
  
And still the sky is light.  
  
Oh moon, grow bright,  
  
And make this endless day endless night!"  
  
Then Riff stopped Tony and sang,  
  
"I'm counting on you to be there....tonight  
  
When Diesel wins it fair and square....tonight.  
  
That Puerto Rican punk'll go down.  
  
And when he's hollered Uncle  
  
We'll tear up the town...tonight!"  
  
Rika was on the balcony, singing,  
  
"Tonight, tonight  
  
Won't be just any night.  
  
And then she started to sing the same song Ryo had just sung. (A/N: Laziness...sign of hunger. Grab a snickers.)  
  
Riff was talking to Ryo. "So I can count on you, boy?"  
  
"All right.womb to tomb!  
  
"Sperm to worm! I'll see you there about eight."  
  
Then Ryo sang, "Tonight."  
  
The Sharks..."We're gonna rock it tonight!!!"  
  
Anita. "Tonight."  
  
And the song goes on with them singing the same verses at the exact same time.  
  
The Sharks ended with, "We're gonna jazz it tonight  
  
They're gonna get it tonight...tonight.  
  
They began it...they began it  
  
And we're the ones  
  
To stop 'em once and for all!  
  
The Sharks are gonna have their way,  
  
The Sharks are gonna have their day,  
  
We're gonna rocks it tonight-  
  
Tonight!  
  
And Anita. "Tonight,  
  
Late tonight,  
  
We're gonna mix it tonight.  
  
Anita's gonna have her day,  
  
Anita's gonna have her day,  
  
Bernardo's gonna have his way  
  
Tonight...tonight.  
  
Tonight...this very night,  
  
We're gonna rock it tonight,  
  
Tonight!  
  
The Jets. "They began it.  
  
They began it.  
  
We'll stop 'em once and for all  
  
The Jets are gonna have their day,  
  
The Jets are gonna have their way,  
  
We're gonna rock it tonight.  
  
Tonight!  
  
Rika. "Tonight there will be no morning star.  
  
Tonight, tonight, I'll se my love tonight.  
  
When we kiss, stars will stop where they are.  
  
And Ryo and Rika at the same time. "Today the minutes seem like hours.  
  
The hours go so slowly,  
  
And still the sky is light.  
  
Oh moon, grow bright,  
  
And make this endless day endless night,  
  
Tonight!"  
  
And everyone ended with the same 'tonight' which got louder, and then the lights blacked out, and everyone ended the song.  
  
The next scene was the last scene of the act. The stage was already set up. The lights came back on, and the gangs came onstage from shadows. Diesel and Bernardo stood in the middle.  
  
"Ready."  
  
"Ready!"  
  
"Ready! Come center and shake hands."  
  
"For what?" Bernardo asked.  
  
"That's how it's done, buddy boy," Riff explained.  
  
"More gracious living? Look, I don't go for that pretend crap you all go for in this country. Every one of you hates every one of us, and we hate you right back. I don't drink with nobody I hate, I don't shake hands with nobody I hate. Let's get at it."  
  
"Okay," Riff agreed.  
  
"Here we go."  
  
Bernardo and Diesel started throwing punches at each other, until Ryo leaped over a fence and started toward Bernardo.  
  
"Hold it!" Ryo shouted.  
  
"Get with the gang," Riff said.  
  
"No."  
  
"What're you doing?" Riff asked.  
  
"Maybe he has found the guts to fight his own battles," Bernardo said.  
  
Ryo smiled. "It doesn't take guts if you have a battle. But we haven't got one, 'Nardo." Ryo extended his hand for Bernardo to shake. Bernardo knocked his hand out of the way and shoved Ryo backward.  
  
"Bernardo."  
  
"The deal is a fair fight between and Diesel," Riff said, and turned to Ryo, "Get with the gang."  
  
Bernardo flicked Ryo's shirt, pushed his shoulder, and pinched Ryo's cheek while Riff was talking.  
  
"I'll give you a battle, Kiddando," Bernardo said to Tony.  
  
"You've got one," Diesel announced.  
  
"I'll take pretty boy on as a warm-up. Afraid, pretty boy? Afraid, chicken? Afraid, gutless?"  
  
"Cut that - " Riff exclaimed.  
  
"I don't want to, Bernardo..." Ryo said.  
  
"I'm sure."  
  
"Bernardo, you've got it wrong."  
  
"Are you chicken?" Bernardo taunted again.  
  
"You won't understand!" Ryo said.  
  
"What d'ya say, chicken?"  
  
"Get him, Tony!" Kazu shouted.  
  
"He is chicken."  
  
"Tony - " Diesel said.  
  
"Get him!" Kenta yelled.  
  
"Bernardo, don't," Ryo said.  
  
"Don't want, pretty little chicken?" Bernardo kept teasing.  
  
"Tony, don't just stand..." Riff said.  
  
"Yellow-bellied chicken..." Bernardo kept going.  
  
"TONY!" Riff shouted.  
  
"Murder him!" Kazu exclaimed.  
  
"Kill him!" Takato yelled.  
  
"Come on, you yellow-bellied Polack bas - " Bernardo didn't get to finish, because Riff hauled off and hit him. Bernardo reached for something in his back pocket, and Riff did the same. At the same time, each withdrew a gleaming knife. Both boys start lunging at each other. Ryo tried to get between them, but, to no avail.  
  
"Hold him!" Riff shouted. Diesel and Kazu grabbed Ryo and held him back. The fight continued. Riff lost his knife, but was thrown another one. At least, he had Bernardo in a position where it seemed he was able to run him through. Tony breaks from Diesel, and moves to stop Riff.  
  
"Riff, don't!" That caused Riff to hesitate a moment, the moment long enough for Bernardo to get out of the spot, and run his knife through Riff. Ryo leaped forward to catch Riff, and breaks his fall. Ryo took Riff's knife, and in anger, rams his knife into Bernardo. In that moment, a free- for-all continued.  
  
A police whistle was heard in the background, and everything came to a dead stop. The kids run away in confusion and panic. As the stage cleared, Ryo stood over the still bodies of Riff and Bernardo. He bent over Riff's body and then rolled over Bernardo, staring. Suddenly, Ryo raised his voice in an anguished cry.  
  
"MARIA!!!"  
  
Another police whistle, closer now, but Ryo didn't move. From the shadows, Ashley appeared. She scurried over to Ryo and tugged at his arm. A siren, another whistle, and then a searchlight cut across the playground. Ashley's insistent tugging brought Ryo back to the realization of the danger. Ryo started to run with her to escape . Ashley reached it first, and went out, but the searchlight hit it as soon as Ryo was about to go through. Ryo darted here and there, and finally got away as a distant clock began to boom.  
  
The curtain fell.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Kazu: MURDERERS!  
  
Ashley: Yeah, kinda. Anyway, that was the end of the first act. Hope you liked the first act. Now we're in the second act, all the drama, and everything!  
  
Kazu: Yep, and you find out if any more people die!  
  
Ashley: Review if you are curious to what happens. Or review if you like this story. Or review if you want to. Just review.  
  
R&R...PLEASE?! 


	10. Dealing

Chapter Ten: Dealing  
  
Ashley: Sadly (well, not really sadly), this story is going faster than my other one, and that's with my friend's help. Well, anyway, nothing really to say...except...I HAVE SCHOOL SPIRIT!  
  
Kazu: What?  
  
Ashley: Nevermind. I'm just gonna hand out a bag, YES A BAG, of cookies to everyone, and get to the chapter. Cookies to....Dragongirl, Dark-angel, Kit- kat, EvilVidel, Rika1332, Abby, The Anti Fluffy (It's the song in this chapter!), and Ryoki. Okay, onto chapter ten, AND MY FAV. SONG!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
A short fifteen minute break was inbetween the two acts, so everyone was resting.  
  
Rika was sitting in the chair that they used for previous scenes. Ashley came over and sat in the one next to her.  
  
"So..."  
  
"So what?" Rika asked.  
  
"You like him..." Ashley said.  
  
"Do not."  
  
"Do too. You always deny it, but I can tell..."  
  
"Whatever."  
  
"AHA! So I'm right!" Ashley said.  
  
"I didn't say that."  
  
"You hinted at it." Ashley smiled. Rika said nothing.  
  
"Come on, back to places!!!" Mrs. Tenner shouting, running by.  
  
"Oh, yes, in case I forget," Ashley said, nodding her head towards Takato and Kazu, "Remind me to kill those two later."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I have my reasons..." Ashley said with an evil look. Then they got into places for act two.  
  
On stage, a bedroom was set up. The curtain rose, as gay music played for Consuelo, who's exmining herself in the mirror, and Rosalia, who is painting her nails.  
  
"This is my last night as a blonde," Consuelo announced.  
  
"No loss," Rosalia said.  
  
"Again! The fortune-teller told Pepe a dark lady was coming into his life."  
  
"So that's why he's not taking you out after the rumble!" The music became festively, spanish-like as Rika entered through a curtained doorway.  
  
"There is not going to be a rumble," Rika said.  
  
"Another fortune-teller," Rosalia exclaimed.  
  
"Where is Chino escorting you after the rumble-that-is-not-going-to-be-a- rumble?" Consuelo asked.  
  
"Chino is escorting me no place."  
  
"She is just dolling for us. Gracias, querida," Rosalia said.  
  
"No, not for you. Can you keep a secret?" Rika asked.  
  
"I'm not for secrets!"  
  
"Tonight is my wedding night!" Rika announced.  
  
"The poor thing is out of her mind," Consuelo said.  
  
"I am, crazy!" Rika exclaimed.  
  
"She might be at that. She looks somehow different," Rosalia added.  
  
"I do?" Rika said.  
  
"And I think she is up to something tonight," Rosalia continued.  
  
"I am?"  
  
"I do? I am? What is going on with you?" Consuelo asked, which caused music to play and a song to start.  
  
Rika started singing,  
  
"I feel pretty,  
  
Oh so pretty,  
  
I feel pretty and witty and bright,  
  
And I pity any girl who isn't me tonight.  
  
I feel charming,  
  
Oh so charming,  
  
It's alarming how charming I feel,  
  
And so pretty that I hardly can believe I'm real.  
  
See the pretty girl in that mirror there:" Rika pointed to an  
imaginary mirror.  
  
"Who can that attractive girl be?  
  
Such a pretty face,  
  
Such a pretty dress,  
  
Such a pretty smile,  
  
Such a pretty me!  
  
I feel stunning  
  
And entrancing,  
  
Feel like running and dancing for joy,  
  
For I'm loved  
  
By a pretty wonderful boy!"  
  
Rosalia and Consuelo started singing,  
  
"Have you met my good friend Maria,  
  
The craziest girl on the block?  
  
You'll know her the minute you see her,  
  
She's the one who is in an advanced state of shock.  
  
She thinks she's in love.  
  
She thinks she's in Spain.  
  
She isn't in love,  
  
She's merely insane.  
  
It must be the heat  
  
Or some rare disease,  
  
Or too much to eat  
  
Or maybe it's fleas.  
  
Keep away from her,  
  
Send for Chino!  
  
This is not the Maria we know!  
  
Modest and pure,  
  
Polite and refined,  
  
Well-bred and mature,  
  
And out of her mind!  
  
Rika got up onstage, and acted like she was Miss America.  
  
And Rika. "I feel pretty,  
  
Oh so pretty  
  
That the city should give me its key.  
  
A committee  
  
Should be organized to honor me.  
  
I feel dizzy,  
  
I feel sunny,  
  
I feel fizzy and funny and fine,  
  
And so pretty,  
  
Miss America can just resign!  
  
See the pretty girl in that mirror there..."  
  
"What mirror where?" Rosalia and Consuelo sang.  
  
"Who can that attractive girl be?"  
  
"Which? What? Where? Whom?"  
  
Rika. "Such a pretty face,  
  
Such a pretty dress,  
  
Such a pretty smile,  
  
Such a pretty me!  
  
And then it was all the three girls.  
  
"I feel stunning  
  
And entrancing,  
  
Feel like running and dancing for joy,  
  
For I'm loved  
  
By a pretty wonderful boy! "  
  
Chino's voice was heard offstage. "Maria!"  
  
"It's Chino," Consuelo said the obvious.  
  
"The happy bridegroom," Rosalia exclaimed.  
  
"Maria!" Chino's voice sounded closer.  
  
"Please - " Rika pleaded.  
  
"Yes, little bride, we're going," Consuelo said and exited.  
  
"They have a quaint old-fashioned custom in this country, Maria. They get married here before the wedding night," Rosalia exclaimed then followed Consuelo out. Chino (Katie) entered, clothes dirty and torn, and face smeared. Rosalia and Consuelo shake their heads at him, and flounce out. Chino closed the door.  
  
"Maria..."  
  
"I'm in here. I was just getting ready to - " Rika put a bathrobe over her dress. Chino comes in before she can finish, so that she left it over her shoulders, holding it closed with her hands.  
  
"Where are your parents?" Chino asked.  
  
"At the store," Rika answered. "If I had known you were...you have been fighting, Chino."  
  
"Yes, I'm sorry," Chino said.  
  
"That is not like you," Rika stated.  
  
"No."  
  
"Why, Chino?"  
  
"I don't know why. It happened so fast," Chino explained.  
  
"You must wash up."  
  
"Maria - "  
  
"You can go in there," Rika said, pointing to the bathroom.  
  
"In a minute. Maria...at the rumble - "  
  
"There was no rumble."  
  
"There was."  
  
"You are wrong," Rika said.  
  
"No, there was. Nobody meant for it to happen..."  
  
"...Tell me," Rika said.  
  
"It's bad."  
  
"Very bad?" Rika asked.  
  
"You see..." Chino said, moving toward her, helplessly.  
  
"It will be easier if you say it very fast."  
  
Chino nodded. "There was a fight..." Rika nodded. "And 'Nardo..." Another nod. "And somehow a knife...and 'Nardo someone..." Chino took Rika's hand.  
  
"Tony. What happened to Tony?" The name stopped Chino. Then he (she, whatever) yanked off the robe, revealing she is dressed to go out. "Chino, is Tony all right?!"  
  
"He killed your brother." Rika walked into the parlor, slamming the door behind him. A pause.  
  
"You are lying," Rika said.  
  
Chino started to leave the parlor, but comes back. He looked into a dresser drawer and pulled out an object warpped in the same material as Bernardo's short. From the bedroom, Rika's voice called out again.  
  
"You are lying, Chino!"  
  
Coldly, Chino unwrapped a gun, and put it in his pocket. A police siren was heard in the background, as Chino left.  
  
Rika was kneeling in front of a shrine on the wall, rocking back and forth, saying a paryer, some of it in Spanish, some in English.  
  
"Make it not be true...please make it not be true...I will do anything. Make me die...only, please...make it not be true."  
  
As she prayed, Ryo appeared at the fire-escape window and quietly climbs in. His shirt is ripped and torn. He stood still, watching Rika pray. Aware the someone was in the room, Rika topped her prayers. Slowly, she turned around, and looked at him for a long moment. Then, almost in one spring, she was on him, fists beating his chest.  
  
"Killer, killer, killer, killer..." But her vocie broke into tears, and she buries her face in his chest, kissing him. Slowly, they sat down on the bed. Ryo pushed Rika's hair back from her face, and kissed her, between words that came tumbling out  
  
"I tried to stop it...I did try. I don't know how it went wrong...I didn't mean to hurt him. I didn't want to. I didn't know I had. But Riff...Riff was like my brother. So when Bernardo killed him..." Rika lifted her head."'Nardo didn't mean it either. Oh, I don't know he didn't! Oh, no. I didn't come to tell you just for you to forgive me so I couldn't go to the police - "  
  
"No!" Rika said.  
  
"It's easy now..." Ryo explained.  
  
"No..."  
  
"Whatever you want, I'll do - "  
  
"Stay. Stay with me." Ryo wrapped his arms around Rika.  
  
"I love you so much."  
  
"Tighter." The music started.  
  
"We'll be all right. I know it. We're really together now," Ryo said.  
  
"But it's not us! It's everything around us!" Rika exclaimed.  
  
"Then we'll find some place where nothing can get to us...not one of them, not anything. And..." Then Ryo began singing,  
  
"I'll take you away, take you far far away out of here,  
  
Far far away till the walls and the streets disappear,  
  
Somewhere there must be a place we can feel we're free,  
  
Somewhere there's got to be some place for you and for me."  
  
As he sang, the walls of the apartment moved off, and the city walls surrouding them closed in. The apartment goes and both began to run, battering against the walls of the city, breaking through the figures of the gangs. They break through, and are in a world of sunshine and air. They both stopped, looking around, pleased. And they begin to dance with other girls and boys who appeared also.  
  
A spotlight shone on Amber in the corner and she began to sing. (A/N: This is because there was no narrator, Amber. SORRY! Well, here you go.)  
  
"There's a place for us,  
  
Somewhere a place for us.  
  
Peace and quiet and open air  
  
Wait for us  
  
Somewhere.  
  
There's a time for us,  
  
Some day a time for us,  
  
Time together with time to spare,  
  
Time to look, time to care,  
  
Someday!  
  
Somewhere.  
  
We'll find a new way of living,  
  
We'll find a way of forgiving  
  
Somewhere,  
  
Somewhere...  
  
There's a place for us,  
  
A time and place for us.  
  
Hold my hand and we're half way there.  
  
Hold my hand and I'll take you there  
  
Someday,  
  
Somehow,  
  
Somewhere!"  
  
Ryo and Rika held out their hands to each other, the otehrs follow suit. Jets to Sharks...Sharks to Jets...and then suddenly there is a complete stop. The atmosphere turns gray, as the figures of Riff and Bernardo slowly walk on. The dream becomes a nightmare. They began to play out the deaths again, Ryo and Rika separated by the gangs. Rika tried to reach Bernardo, Ryo tried to stop Riff. They reach out for each other, but cannot. The both wake up back in the bedroom, scared. Ryo and Rika started singing again to reassure each other.  
  
"Hold my hand and we're halfway there.  
  
Hold my hand and I'll take you there  
  
Someday,  
  
Somehow,  
  
Somewhere!"  
  
The lights fade, as they sink back on the bed.  
  
The next scene was another alley. The Jet gang whistles behind a fence, and then an answering whistle around the corner. Baby John and A-rab (Kenta) came through.  
  
"They got you yet?" Kenta asked.  
  
"No, you?" Baby John answered.  
  
"Hell, no."  
  
"You seen Tony?" Baby John said.  
  
"Nobody has."  
  
"Geez..." Baby John said, a bit scared.  
  
"You been home yet?"  
  
"Uh uh."  
  
"Me either."  
  
"Just hidin' around?" Baby John asked.  
  
"Uh huh."  
  
"A-rab. did you get a look at 'em?"  
  
"Loot at who?" Kenta exclaimed.  
  
"Ya know. At the rumble. Riff and Bernardo." There was a pause.  
  
"I wish it was yesterday," Kenta finally said.  
  
"Wadaya say we run away?"  
  
"What's the matter? You scared?"  
  
"Yeah," Baby John admitted.  
  
"You cut it out, ya hear?" Kenta said, "You're only makin' me scared and that scares me!" There was a police whistle and he grabbed Baby John. "Last thing ever is to let a cop know you're scared or anythin'."  
  
"Hey, you two!" Krupke said, offstage.  
  
"Play it big with the baby blues," Kenta exclaimed.  
  
"Okay," Baby John said, scared.  
  
"Big, not scare, big!" Again a whistle. Casual, they start walking off as Krupke appears.  
  
"Yeah, you," Krupke said. They both stopped, acting surprised.  
  
"Why, it is Officer Krupke, Baby John," Kenta said.  
  
"Top of the evening, Officer Krupke."  
  
"I'll crack the top of your skulls if you punks don't stop when I whistle," Krupke exclaimed.  
  
"But we stopped the very moment we heard," Kenta argued.  
  
"We got twenty-twenty hearing."  
  
"You wanna get hauled down to the station house?"  
  
"Indeed not, sir," Baby John said.  
  
"I'll make a little deal. I know you was rumblin' under the highway - "  
  
"We was at the playground, sir," Baby John lied.  
  
"We like the playground. It keeps us deprived kids off the foul streets."  
  
"It gives us comradeship - "  
  
"A place for pleasant pastimes...and for us, born like we was on the hot pavements..."  
  
"Okay, wise apples, down to the station house," Krupke interrupted.  
  
"Which way?" Baby John asked.  
  
"This way!" Kenta exclaimed, and got down on all fours, as Baby John pushed Krupke, so that he tumbled over Kenta. Baby John and Kenta split up. Krupke hesitated, then ran after them, blowing his whistle like mad. The moment he ran off, Kenta, Baby John, and the other Jets appeared through the fence. "Look at the brass-ass run!"  
  
"I hope he breaks it!" Baby John said.  
  
"Get the lead out, fat boy!" Kazu added.  
  
"Easy. He'll come back and drag us down the station house."  
  
"I already been," Kazu admitted.  
  
"We both already been," Takato said.  
  
"What happened?" Kenta asked.  
  
"A bit fat nuthin'!" Takato said.  
  
"How come?"  
  
"Cops believe everythin' they read in the papers."  
  
"To them we ain't human. We're cruddy juvenile delinquents. So that's what we give 'em," Kazu said. (A/N: In a sec, you'll see why I placed Kazu as Action.)  
  
"Hey, you!" Takato said, imitating Krupke.  
  
"Me, Officer Krupke?" Kazu asked.  
  
"Yeah, you! Gimme one good reason for not draggin' ya down the station house, ya punk," Takato said.  
  
Kazu sang,  
  
"Dear kindly Sergeant Krupke,  
  
You gotta understand,  
  
It's just our bringin' up-ke  
  
That gets us out of hand.  
  
Our mothers all are junkies,  
  
Our fathers all are drunks."  
  
And then all. "Golly Moses, naturally we're punks!  
  
Gee, Officer Krupke, we're very upset;  
  
We never had the love that every child oughta get.  
  
We ain't no delinquents,  
  
We're misunderstood.  
  
Deep down inside us there is good!"  
  
"There is good!" Kazu sang.  
  
And everyone. "There is good, there is good,  
  
There is untapped good.  
  
Like inside, the worst of us is good."  
  
Takato said, "That's a touchin' good story."  
  
"Lemme tell it to the world!"  
  
"Just tell it to the judge."  
  
So Kazu sang to Diesel who was the judge,  
  
"Dear kindly Judge, your Honor,  
  
My parents treat me rough.  
  
With all their marijuana,  
  
They won't give me a puff.  
  
They didn't wanna have me,  
  
But somehow I was had.  
  
Leapin' lizards, that's why I'm so bad!"  
  
Diesel sang, imitating a judge,  
  
"Right!  
  
Officer Krupke, you're really a square;  
  
This boy don't need a judge, he needs an  
  
analyst's care!  
  
It's just his neurosis that oughta be curbed.  
  
He's psychologic'ly disturbed!"  
  
"I'm disturbed!" Kazu exclaimed.  
  
All. "We're disturbed, we're disturbed,  
  
We're the most disturbed,  
  
Like we're psychologic'ly disturbed."  
  
"Hear ye, Hear ye! In the opinion of this court, this child is depraved on account he ain't had a normal home."  
  
"Hey, I'm depraved on account I'm deprived!" Kazu said, as he got hit with a rolled-up newspaper.  
  
"So take him to a headshrinker."  
  
"My father is a bastard, (A/N: Yes, nice words...)  
  
My ma's an S.O.B.  
  
My grandpa's always plastered,  
  
My grandma pushes tea.  
  
My sister wears a mustache,  
  
My brother wears a dress.  
  
Goodness gracious, that's why I'm a mess!"  
  
Kenta sang, "Yes!  
  
Officer Krupke, you're really a slob.  
  
This boy don't need a doctor, just a good honest job.  
  
Society's played him a terrible trick,  
  
And sociologically he's sick!"  
  
Kazu said, "I am sick!"  
  
All. "We are sick, we are sick,  
  
We are sick sick sick,  
  
Like we're sociologically sick!"  
  
"In my opinion, this child don't need to have his head shrunk at all. Juvenile delinquency is purely a social disease!" Kenta said.  
  
"Hey, I got a social disease!" Kazu bolted up, causing them to hit him again.  
  
"So take him to a social worker!"  
  
"Dear kindly social worker,  
  
They say go earn a buck,  
  
Like be a soda jerker,  
  
Which means like be a schmuck.  
  
It's not I'm anti-social,  
  
I'm only anti-work.  
  
Glory Osky, that's why I'm a jerk!  
  
Baby John sang like a girl social worker,  
  
"Eek!  
  
Officer Krupke, you've done it again.  
  
This boy don't need a job, he needs a year in the pen.  
  
It ain't just a question of misunderstood;  
  
Deep down inside him, he's no good!"  
  
"I'm no good!" Kazu said.  
  
All. "We're no good, we're no good,  
  
We're no earthly good,  
  
Like the best of us is no damn good!"  
  
"The trouble is he's crazy," Diesel said, hitting Kazu with a newspaper.  
  
"The trouble is he drinks." Same thing with Kenta.  
  
"The trouble is he's lazy." Baby John said.  
  
"The trouble is he stinks."  
  
"The trouble is he's grown."  
  
"The trouble is he's grown."  
  
All. "Krupke, we got troubles of our own!  
  
Gee, Officer Krupke,  
  
We're down on our knees,  
  
'Cause no one wants a fella with a social disease  
  
Gee, Officer Krupke,  
  
What are we to do?  
  
Gee, Officer Krupke,  
  
Krup you!" Then sang, hitting "Krupke" on the head, making him fall over.  
  
At the end of the song, Ashley appeared over the fence.  
  
"Buddy boys!" Ashley yelled.  
  
"Ah! Go wear a skirt," Kazu said.  
  
"I got scabby knees. Listen - " Ashley started.  
  
"Come on, we gotta make sure those PRs know we're on top," Kazu said to the gang.  
  
"Geez, Action, ain't we had enough?" Diesel exclaimed.  
  
"Wotta buncha Old Man Rivers: they don't know nothin' and they don't say nuthin'," Ashley said. "Diesel, the question ain't whether we had enough - "  
  
"What do you know?" Kazu asked.  
  
"I know I gotta get a skirt," Ashley said, and started off but Diesel stopped her.  
  
"Come on, Anybodys, tell me," Diesel pleaded.  
  
"Ah, what's the freak know?" Takato said, that caused Ashley to give him an evil glare.  
  
"Plenty," Ashley said, "I figgered somebody oughta infiltrate PR territory and spy around. I'm very big with shadows, ya know. I can slip in and out of 'em like wind through a fence."  
  
"Boy, is she ever makin' the most of it!" Takato exclaimed.  
  
"You be you fat A, I am!" Ashley said.  
  
"Go on. Wadd'ya hear?" Kazu asked.  
  
"I heard Chino tellin' the Sharks somethin' about Tony and Bernardo's sister. Then Chino said, 'If it's the last thing I do, I'm going to get Tony.'"  
  
"What'd I tell ya? Them PRs won't stop!" Kazu said.  
  
"Easy, Action!" Takato exclaimed.  
  
"It's bad enough now - "  
  
"Yeah!"  
  
"You forgettin'?" Kazu exclaimed, "Tony came through for us Jets. We gotta find him and protect him from Chino."  
  
"Right!" Kenta agreed.  
  
"Okay then!" Kazu said, "Snowboy...cover the river!" Takato ran off. "A- rab...get over to Doc's." Kenta ran off in another direction.  
  
"I'll take the back alleys," Baby John said.  
  
"Diesel?" Kazu asked.  
  
"I'll cover the park," Diesel answered.  
  
"Good boy!" Kazu began to run off.  
  
"What about me?" Ashley asked. Kazu stopped and turned around.  
  
"You?" Kazu said, as Ashley nodded, "You get a hold of the girls and send 'em out as liaison runners so we'll know who's found Tony where."  
  
"Right!" Ashley started to run off.  
  
"Hey!" Kazu shouted out, and Ashley turned around, "You done good, buddy boy."  
  
Ashley (A/N: *starts laughing her head off*) acted like she fell in love with Kazu. "Thanks, Daddy-o." And they both ran off. The lights blacked out as the cast roamed around backstage.  
  
Kazu kept trying to put his arm around Ashley, and she was getting very annoyed. Finally, she kicked him where any annoyed girl would.  
  
"Ow..." Was all Kazu could say after.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Kazu: *blinks*  
  
Ashley: Thank-you Amber for that great idea! Even though you encouraged that to happen! And that's the thing I found out a couple chapters ago...  
  
Kazu: ...  
  
Ashley: ^_^ Right, thank-you for reading!! And review if you liked this chapter. Or review to....review. Anyway, there's only a couple more chapters of the play left. And more action! So, get ready!  
  
Kazu: ...  
  
Ashley: Since Kazu has nothing to say, I'd like to say this...  
  
I'LL MISS YOU MRS. BOLTON! You were the best choir teacher ever!  
  
I'LL MISS YOU MR. VANNEST! You were always funny, and made learning fun!  
  
I'LL MISS YOU MRS. WHITE! You taught me to sew and cook! YAY!  
  
I'LL MISS YOU MR. HANSEN! Okay...maybe I won't...but you did make us laugh a lot.  
  
I'LL MISS YOU MRS. LAVIGNE! You were very nice, and always supportive.  
  
I'LL MISS YOU MR. SMITH! You made Algebra interesting...with jokes.  
  
I shouldn't be so sad that school is ending in...7 days...including weekends, but I'll miss 8th grade. And my friends! Okay, now for the friends:  
  
Amber, I'll see you this summer...so...keep being...weird...  
  
Amanda, Just keep being scary and morbid. It's interesting...  
  
Andrew, HEY BUNNY BOY! You dance weird, sing...weird...but you're really funny. Drama was SO fun!  
  
Eric, HAHAHAHAHAHA! I BEAT YOU! *pokes him*  
  
Andrew B., STOP POKING ME! It hurts! How many times have you read that Harry Potter book?  
  
Katie, Just keep being yourself. I like your sarcastic humor. CALL ME OVER THE SUMMER!  
  
Roger, You're not really a friend...but you were the one to get me hooked on WSS! Thanks!  
  
And many more. Too many to list actually.  
  
I'LL MISS 8TH GRADE! Off to high school...oh goody...  
  
Okay, I'm done with that....review.  
  
R&R. 


	11. Never Happily Ever After

Chapter Eleven: Never Happily Ever After  
  
Ashley: Well, some of you know what happened...some of you don't. All my files were erased...including the almost-done chapter eleven. So...what you are reading right now is not the original version. I wrote the whole thing over again. It was extreme fun. I just wanna get to the chapter so....I don't own Digimon, West Side Story, Amber, or whoever I don't own in this chapter.  
  
Oh, yes, before I forget, I didn't realize how short act two was until now. This is the last chapter of the play. Not the fic, THE PLAY! Got that? Good.  
  
Quick cookie handouts and some comments:  
  
lilcherryblossom - ARE YOU TRYING TO GIVE MY PLOT AWAY?! Like anyone didn't know that though. Thanks too!  
  
Dragongirl - Well, thank you. And yes, I will update faster, but my computer is gonna be taken away for three days. I'm trying to get this chapter done before it does.  
  
The Anti Fluffy - Ahh...8th grade. Gonna be easy, trust me. Good luck in 8th grade!  
  
One of your Fans - Oh, wow, um...thanks. I'm speechless. I might write a WSS fic...thinking about it.  
  
Kit Kat - You remind me of my classmate, Dan, who started singing that song in the middle of class. Anyway, thanks!  
  
Akino Matoumiken - Sorry, your review didn't come in e-mail for some strange reason. You get two cookies. Hey, A Walk To Remember? Wasn't that the movie my class was going to watch in choir but couldn't find a DVD player? Yeah...  
  
bff - Hey KT! No pool on the 4th floor? Okay, I'll remember that. Thanks for reviewing!  
  
Okay, on with chapter eleven.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Now this scene is interesting..." Amber said to Ashley, who nodded, as the curtain rose. (A/N: Our first reactions to this scene when watching the movie actually was WHAT THE!?!)  
  
The stage shown the bedroom, and there was a faint glow over two people on the bed, Ryo and Rika. Ryo wasn't wearing his shirt and Rika was in a slip. (A/N: Yeah, exactly...if only I had a screenshot.) There was a knock, and suddenly it got very much louder. Ryo bolted awake, waking up Rika also.  
  
It is Anita, who is standing out in the parlor, looking like she was about to cry. Anita walked over to the bedroom door, and tried to open it, but it was locked.  
  
"Maria?" Anita called, "Maria?" Ryo reached for his shirt, and Rika sat up, ready to answer. Quickly, Ryo put his hand over her lips, and then his lips over her's. "Maria, it's Anita. Why are you locked in?"  
  
"I didn't know it was locked," Rika managed to say.  
  
"Open the door. I need you," Anita said.  
  
Rika reached for the doorknob, but Ryo stopped her.  
  
"Now you are afraid, too," Rika whispered.  
  
"What?" Anita asked, confused.  
  
"One moment," Rika said outloud.  
  
"Doc'll help. I'll get money from him. You meet me at his drugstore," Ryo whispered. In the other room, Anita was aware of the voices, but was unsure on what they were saying.  
  
"At Doc's, yes," Rika said, then loudly, "Coming, Anita!"  
  
Ryo walked over the window but turned around and kissed Rika once more. "Hurry!"  
  
Then he scrambled out of the window, as Rika hastily put a bathrobe over her slip. In the other room Anita stiffened and moved away from the door. She stood, staring at it coldly, as Rika opened the door a little to talk to her.  
  
"Did you see Chino? He was here before, but he left so angry I think maybe he - " She was interrupted by Anita shoving past, and looks out the window, and at the bed. Then she turned accusingly to Rika. "All right. Now you know," Rika said.  
  
"And you still don't know!" Anita exclaimed, "Tony is one of them!" Then she started to sing bitterly,  
  
"A boy like that who'd kill your brother,  
  
Forget that boy and find another,  
  
One of your own kind-  
  
Stick to your own kind!" Rika turned away from Anita, but Anita forced Rika to look at her.  
  
"A boy like that will give you sorrow-  
  
You'll meet another boy tomorrow!  
  
One of your own kind,  
  
Stick to your own kind!  
  
A boy who kills cannot love,  
  
A boy who kills has no heart. (A/N: I was thinking...didn't Bernardo kill Riff? Then she's saying her used-to-be boyfriend has no heart...and cannot love...hmm...)  
  
And he's the boy who gets your love  
  
And gets your heart-  
  
Very smart, Maria, very smart!  
  
A boy like that wants one thing only,  
  
And when he's done he'll leave you lonely.  
  
He'll murder your love; he murdered mine.  
  
Just wait and see-  
  
Just wait, Maria,  
  
Just wait and see!  
  
Rika interrupted, "Oh, no, Anita, no-  
  
Anita, no!  
  
It isn't true, not for me,  
  
It is true for you, not for me,  
  
I hear your words-  
  
And in my head  
  
I know they're smart,  
  
But my heart, Anita,  
  
But my heart  
  
Knows they're wrong" Anita sang the chorus she just sung, while Rika went on with her song,  
  
"And my heart  
  
Is too strong,  
  
For I belong  
  
To him alone, to him alone.  
  
One thing I know:  
  
I am his,  
  
I don't care what he is.  
  
I don't know why it's so,  
  
I don't want to know.  
  
Oh no, Anita, no-you should know better!  
  
You were in love-or so you said.  
  
You should know better..."  
  
Rika sat down next to Anita on the bed, who was starting to cry.  
  
"I have a love, and it's all that I have.  
  
Right or wrong, what else can I do?  
  
I love him; I'm his  
  
And everything he is  
  
I am, too.  
  
I have a love and it's all that I need,  
  
Right or wrong, and he needs me too.  
  
I love him, we're one;  
  
There's nothing to be done,  
  
Not a thing I can do  
  
But hold him, hold him forever,  
  
Be with him now, tomorrow  
  
And all of my life!"  
  
Rika held out her hands for Anita to take, and slowly Anita took them as they both started sing.  
  
"When love comes so strong,  
  
There is no right or wrong,  
  
Your love is your life!"  
  
Anita, who was crying, said softly, "Chino has a gun...he is sending the boys out to hunt for Tony..."  
  
Rika tore off her bathrobe, as she stormed across the bedroom. "If he hurts Tony...if he touches him...I swear to you, I'll..."  
  
"You'll do what Tony did to Bernardo?" Anita asked sharply.  
  
"I love Tony."  
  
"I know. I loved Bernardo."  
  
Suddenly, Shrank came into the outer room. "Anybody home?" He went to the bedroom door, and saw Rika and Anita. "Sorry to disturb you. Guess you're disturbed enough."  
  
"Yes. You will excuse me, please. I must go to my brother," Rika said, getting on her robe.  
  
"There are just a couple questions..." Shrank said.  
  
"Afterwards, please. Later," Rika said in a hurry.  
  
"It'll only take a minute."  
  
"Couldn't you wait until - " Anita started to ask, until she was interrupted by Shrank.  
  
"No!" Then he turned and smiled at Rika. "You were at the dance at the gym last night."  
  
"Yes," Rika answered.  
  
"Your brother got in a heavy argument because you danced with the wrong boy."  
  
"Oh?"  
  
"Who was the wrong boy?" Shrank asked.  
  
"Excuse me," Rika said, going over to Anita, "Anita, my head is worse. Will you go to the drugstore and tell them what I need?"  
  
"Don't you keep aspirin around?" Shrank said.  
  
"This is something special. Will you go for me, Anita?"  
  
Anita hesitated, then looked at Rika, and nodded. "Shall I tell him to hold it for you till you come?"  
  
"Will I be long?" Rika asked Shrank.  
  
"As long as it takes."  
  
"Yes. Tell him I will pick it up myself," Rika said, and Anita left. "I'm sorry. Now you asked?"  
  
"I didn't ask, I told you. There was an argument over a boy. Who was that boy?"  
  
"Another from my country."  
  
"And his name?"  
  
"Jo?e." The lights went out, and immediately came back on a few seconds later. The stage showed the drugstore, Doc's.  
  
Kenta and some of the Jets were already there, as Ashley and the other Jets ran in.  
  
"Where's Tony?" Kazu asked.  
  
"Down in the cellar with Doc," Kenta answered.  
  
"Ya warn him about Chino?"  
  
"Doc said he'd tell him."  
  
"What's he hidin' in the cellar from?" Baby John asked.  
  
"Maybe he can't run as fast as you," Takato exclaimed.  
  
"Cut the frabbajabba," Kazu said.  
  
"Yeah! The cops'll get hip, if Chino and the PRs don't," Ashley told them.  
  
"Grab some readin' matter...play the juke. Some of ya get outside and if ya see Chino or any PR - " Kazu started, but stopped, as Anita entered. Cold silence, then she slowly came down to the counter. They all stared at her. A long moment. Then someone turned on the jukebox, a mambo comes on softly.  
  
"I'd like to see Doc," Anita said.  
  
"He ain't here," Kazu lied.  
  
"Where is he?" Anita asked.  
  
"He's gone to the bank. There was an error in his favor," Kenta exclaimed.  
  
"The banks are closed at night. Where is he?" Anita pointed out.  
  
"You know how skinny Doc is. He slipped in through the night-deposit slot."  
  
"And got stuck halfway in," Ashley said.  
  
"Which indicates there's no tellin' when he'll be back. Buenos noches, señorita."  
  
Anita moved toward the cellar door.  
  
"Where you going?" Diesel asked.  
  
"Downstairs to...see Doc," Anita replied.  
  
"Didn't I tell ya he ain't here?"  
  
"I'd like to see for myself," Anita said.  
  
"Please," Kazu exclaimed, nastily.  
  
Anita hesitated but said, "Please."  
  
"Por favor," Kazu said.  
  
"Will you let me pass?" Anita asked, frustrated.  
  
"She's too dark to pass," Takato said.  
  
"Don't," Anita whispered.  
  
"Please don't," Kazu corrected.  
  
"Por favor," Takato added.  
  
"Non comprende."  
  
"Gracias."  
  
"Di nada."  
  
"Listen, you..." At the end, Anita controlled herself and stopped.  
  
"We're listenin'," Kazu said.  
  
"I've got to give a friend of yours a message. I've got tell Tony - " Anita started.  
  
"He ain't here," Diesel lied.  
  
"I know he is," Anita said.  
  
"Who says he is?" Kazu asked.  
  
"Who's the message from?" Kenta questioned.  
  
"Never mind," Anita said.  
  
"Couldn't be from Chino, could it?" Kazu exclaimed.  
  
"I want to stop Chino! I want to help!" Anita said.  
  
"Bernardo's girl wants to help?" Ashley asked.  
  
"Even a greaseball's got feelings," Kazu said.  
  
"But she wants to help Tony!"  
  
"No!"  
  
"Not much...Bernardo's tramp," Kazu said.  
  
"Bernardo's pig!" Takato taunted  
  
"Don't do that!" Anita yelled.  
  
"Gold tooth!"  
  
"Pierced ear!"  
  
"Garlic mouth!"  
  
"Spic! Lyin' Spic!"  
  
The taunting broke out into a wild, savage dance with epithets hurled at Anita, who is surrounded by the group. At the peak, Anita was shoved into a corner and Baby John is lifted up high and almost dropped on her when Henry came in, yelling.  
  
"Stop it! What've you been doing now?" Henry asked.  
  
Dead silence, then Anita got up, trying not to cry. "Bernardo was right. If one of you was bleeding in the street, I'd walk by and spit on you." And she started to make her way to the door.  
  
"Don't let her go!" Kazu yelled.  
  
"She'll tell Chino that Tony - " Diesel started. Takato grabbed Anita but she shook loose.  
  
"Let go!" Anita cried out, "I'll give you a message for your American BUDDY! Tell the murderer Maria's never going to meet him! Tell him Chino found out and...and shot her!" Then she slammed the door on the way out. There is stunned silence.  
  
"What does it take to get through to you? When do you stop? You make this world lousy!" Henry said.  
  
"That's the way we found it, Doc," Kazu explained.  
  
"Get out of here!" Henry yelled, as the Jets slowly filed out.  
  
Down in the cellar, Ryo was sitting down on a crate, whistling "Maria" as Henry came down, with some bills in his hand.  
  
"Make a big sale?" Ryo asked.  
  
"No," Henry answered, softly.  
  
Ryo took the money Henry was holding. "Thanks. I'll pay you back as soon as I can."  
  
"Forget that."  
  
"I won't...I couldn't. Doc, you know what we're going to do in the country, Maria and me? We're going to have kids and we'll name them all after you, even the girls. Then when you come to visit - " Suddenly, Henry slapped Ryo. Henry spoke, his voice shaking.  
  
"Wake up! Is that the only way to get through to you? Do just what you all do? Bust like a hot-water pipe?"  
  
"Doc, what's gotten - " Ryo said.  
  
"Why do you live like there's a war on?" Henry said, then softly, "Why do you kill?"  
  
"I told you how it happened, Doc. Maria understands. Why can't you?" Ryo asked.  
  
"I never had a Maria," Henry said sadly. (A/N: Aww...poor Henry...or poor Doc. Whatever way you see it.)  
  
"I have, and I'll tell you one thing, Doc. Even if it only lasts from one night to the next, it's worth the world."  
  
"That's all it did last," Henry said.  
  
"What?" Ryo asked, confused.  
  
"That was no costumer upstairs, just now. That was Anita." A pause. "Maria is dead. China found out about you and her...and shot her."  
  
A brief moment. Ryo looked at Henry, stunned and numb. He shook his head, as if he couldn't believe this was happening. Henry tried to comfort him, but Ryo backed away, and suddenly turned and ran out of the door. As he did this, the set was moved offstage and the stage went dark. In the darkness we hear Ryo's voice.  
  
"Chino? Chino? Come and get me, too, Chino!"  
  
The lights came back on to reveal Ryo, walking by the same set at the beginning of act one, but it is now jagged with shadows. Ryo was still calling out for Chino.  
  
"Chino? COME ON! GET ME TOO!"  
  
"Tony..." A whisper came from the shadows.  
  
Ryo swung around. "Who's that?"  
  
Ashley darted onstage. "Me...Anybodys."  
  
"Get outta here," Ryo said, "HEY, CHINO! COME GET ME, DAMN YOU!"  
  
"What're you doin', Tony?" Ashley asked.  
  
"I said get outta here! CHINO!"  
  
"Look, maybe if you and me just - "  
  
Ryo turned around and grabbed Ashley by the shoulders. "It's not playing any more! Can't any of you get that?" he shouted.  
  
"But the gang - "  
  
"You're a girl...be a girl! Beat it!" Ashley then ran offstage. "CHINO, I'M CALLING FOR YOU, CHINO! HURRY! IT'S CLEAR NOW. THERE'S NOBODY BUT ME. COME ON! Will you, please? I'm waiting for you. I want you to - "  
  
Then Ryo suddenly stopped. All the way across the stage, a figure stepped out of the dark. Ryo stopped and peered as the light glowed on it.  
  
Ryo uttered an unbelieving whisper, "Maria...Maria?"  
  
"Tony..." Rika said, happily, but another figure appeared.  
  
Chino.  
  
"MARIA!" Ryo shouted, as they ran to each other. But...  
  
BANG!  
  
Ryo stumbled, as though he had tripped, and Maria catches him, and they faltered to the ground. During this, all the rest of the Sharks and Jets ran on, including Henry. Chino stood very still, bewildered by the gun in his hand.  
  
"I didn't believe hard enough," Ryo whispered.  
  
"Loving is enough," Rika said.  
  
"Not here. They won't let us be."  
  
"Then we'll get away," Maria said.  
  
"Yes, we can. We still..." Ryo shivered as a "pain" went through him. Rika held Ryo closer and began singing without the music.  
  
"Hold my hand and we're halfway there.  
  
Hold my hand and I'll take you there,  
  
Someday,  
  
Somehow..."  
  
Ryo started to join in on the second line, and Rika sang louder as if urging him back to life. But Ryo faltered and barely finished the line. Rika sang on, then stopped, Ryo's body quiet in her arms. A moment, and then Rika gently laid Ryo on the ground, brushing her fingers against Ryo's lips. Behind her, Action, moved to lead the Jets toward Chino. But Rika spoke, voice cold and sharp.  
  
"Stay back." The shawl around her shoulders slipped to the ground as she got up. Then Rika walked over to Chino and held out her hand. Chino handed her the gun. She spoke again, in a flat, hard voice, "How do you fire this gun, Chino? Just by pulling this little trigger?"  
  
Rika suddenly pointed it at Chino, who drew back. Rika's voice got stronger with anger and savage rage. "How many bullets are left, Chino? Enough for you?" She pointed the gun at a person. "And you?" At Kazu. "All of you? We all killed him...and my brother and Riff. I, too. I can kill now because I hate now!" During saying that, she pointed the gun wildly, at random people. Now, again, she pointed it at Kazu, but was talking to Chino. "How many can I kill, Chino? How many...and still have one bullet left for me?"  
  
A moment, then Rika broke into tears, throwing the gun, and sunk on the ground. Just then, Shrank walked on and he started toward Ryo's body. But like a madwomen, Rika raced to the body and put her arms around it.  
  
"DON'T YOU TOUCH HIM!" Rika yelled. Shrank stepped back, as Krupke and Glad Hand appeared from the shadows. Rika now turned and looked at Chino, who slowly came to stand by the body, and then at Action, Diesel, and Pepe.  
  
"Te adoro, Anton," Rika said gently, kissing him once last time.  
  
The music started as two Jets and two Sharks lifted up Ryo's body and carried it out. The others followed them. But Baby John stayed behind to put Rika's shawl over her head. Rika sat there, like a woman in mourning, but finally got up, despite the tears on her face, and followed the others. Henry, Shrank, and Glad Hand are left bowed, alone, and useless.  
  
The lights blacked out and the curtain fell, as the audience erupted into applause. But the curtain came up a couple seconds later, for the bows.  
  
Amber came out first for her solo, and everyone clapped.  
  
Then Henry and Jeri came out, with some other people, for not-very-but- kinda important parts. Everyone kept clapping.  
  
Then for the middle important parts, which including Takato, Kazu, Kenta, and Ashley. Kazu was still trying to annoy Ashley, irregardless of what happened earlier. He even tried to kiss Ashley on the cheek...which...  
  
"AHHHHHHH!!!" Kazu yelled, as he was thrown off the stage and into the audience. Ashley was smirking satisfactorily, then briskly walked offstage, all the shocked cast following.  
  
After the stunned Mrs. Tenner got over what just happened, she announced, "And the two most important characters...give them a great round of applause...RYO AKIYAMA AND RIKA NONAKA!" Everyone stood up and gave them a standing ovation, as they both came out.  
  
Some young boy in the audience shouted, "Look, Mommy, IT'S THE DEAD GUY!" Ryo just gave the boy a small smile, which caused the boy to shout, "AND THE DEAD GUY IS SMILING!" Ryo just shook his head. (A/N: This happened at the play I went to.)  
  
Finally the clapping ended and Mrs. Tenner came out to speak.  
  
"I can't believe my students...they made me so proud. Especially since we had some difficulties...like losing one of the main actors three days before the play...and the shortness of the time to learn lines and everything. Thank you for coming...and thank you parents! I appreciate all of you!"  
  
Everyone clapped once again, as the cast either went home and stayed to talk to their friends.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Ashley: YEAH! The most boring ending of chapter ever! And least time for writing a whole chapter over! OH YEAH! Go me...go me...  
  
Kazu: Do you have something against me or something? Why do you keep hurting me?  
  
Ashley: All Amber's idea. Thanks Amber (Henrylovr07).  
  
Kazu: ...  
  
Ashley: Okay, I have couple things to say. My computer is being taken on Wednesday and I won't have it for three or more days. That means three days without writing any of the next chapter. So, the next chapter might be a long wait. Also, I was watching WSS again, and noticed a little detail in the movie that wasn't in this play. I thought it was funny. Here's the scene:  
  
"Oh, Riff, you've gotta let me be in the gang!" - Anybodys  
  
"Ha...how else is she gonna get a guy to touch her?" - A-Rab  
  
"Why you! " - Anybodys  
  
"The road little lady, the road." - Riff  
  
I found that funny...because I played Anybodys. I dunno...it was just funny to me. Anyway, please review! PLEASE? PLEASE? Just review...I HAVE COOKIES! Come on, PLEASE REVIEW!  
  
School counter: Four days until school is out...(AHHHHHHH!!!! FINALS!!!)  
  
Just R&R.  
  
(Next chapter: What will happen after the play?) 


	12. Trouble After the Play

Chapter Twelve: Trouble After the Play  
  
Ashley: Um.okay people, listen before you kill me. My computer is deleting files (still), I had to go camping (without a computer), and my computer likes shutting down on me, when I forget to save something. And I had no computer for two weeks. So, there are reasons for this chapter being out so late, and another reason is, I had no idea where this was gonna lead. So...don't kill me! *hides*  
  
Kazu: She's also sorry she couldn't get the chapter out earlier.  
  
Ashley: Yes, I am. Anyway, I wanna thank these people for reviewing: RukiMakino, Akino Matoumiken (I know...we were all expecting Maria to kill herself or something), Kit Kat, The Anti Fluffy, EvilVidel, dragongirl, your very angry friend!, babe_galanime, DigiFreak103, A Friend, Rika1332, Isis, and Kitaru15. Oh wow!!! Lots of reviewers from the last chapter!!! Thanks guys!!! *gives them free cookie coupons*  
  
To 'your very angry friend!'...here's a short scene.  
  
Then Katie bowed onstage, and people cheered for the person who killed Chino.  
  
There Katie. Now you can't be mad at me. DON'T BE MAD AT ME!!!!!! Someone do the disclaimer.  
  
Rika: Ashley doesn't own anything, including Digimon, West Side Story, Amber, Katie and other people.  
  
Ashley: Okay, onto chapter twelve!!! YAY!!!!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"You guys were great!" Jeri said, hugging everyone she could find.  
  
"You did great on your solo Amber," Ashley said, finding Amber in the crowd.  
  
"You too."  
  
"I did the best!" Kazu boasted, looking very proud of himself.  
  
"Well, you did do great on 'Gee, Officer Krupke'," Ashley admitted.  
  
"Thanks, babe."  
  
"HAVE YOU NOT LEARNED YOUR LESSON OR SOMETHING?!"  
  
Kazu cowered behind the others. "S-sorry..." Ashley crossed her arms and glared at him.  
  
"Well, all of us did our best," Henry said.  
  
"Yeah..."  
  
Henry snuck up behind Amber. "And you did exceptionally well." Amber giggled.  
  
"But really," Ashley said, sitting down in the nearest chair, "I thank God that it's over." (A/N: Hey, that triggers my memory somehow..) "I'm exhausted."  
  
"Too exhausted - " (A/N: WAIT! I KNOW! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO.Amber, read over it and maybe you'll recognize something. Clue: Purple paper..yeah...*shudders* Well, everyone else: forget this paragraph..right...NOW!)  
  
"Yeah, but it was a fun time," Takato said.  
  
"That's true," Ashley said, then grinned evilly, "freak."  
  
"Hey!" Takato exclaimed, looking over at Ashley, "I'm not a freak!"  
  
"Well, you called me one first," Ashley explained.  
  
Takato was confused. "You mean, in the play?"  
  
"Yeah, what do I, the freak, know?"  
  
"You do realize I was acting, right?"  
  
Ashley nodded. "Yeah, but, I wanted revenge.freak." Takato just crossed his arms.  
  
After a short pause, Kazu spoke up, "Where are Rika and Ryo? I wanna ask about their little kisses!"  
  
"She'll kill you," Amber said.  
  
"True.but where are they anyway?" Kazu asked, looking around.  
  
Ashley got up. "I'll look for them." Ashley walked behind the stage props, and stopped behind the "brick wall". "Hey Rika."  
  
Rika, who was sitting behind the brick wall, looked up. "Oh, hi."  
  
"Why aren't you with the group? They're wondering where you are, well, Kazu only wants to torment you.but.yeah."  
  
"Just thinking by myself," Rika said.  
  
"Hey, are you avoiding us?" Ashley asked.  
  
Rika looked a bit startled. "What? No.no.I'm not avoiding you guys."  
  
"Then you're avoiding Ryo," Ashley added.  
  
"No! I mean, of course not."  
  
Ashley continued, "It's about the kisses, isn't it? You don't want to confront him about that."  
  
"Who said that? You're just making up stuff! I'm not avoiding anybody. Stop assuming things."  
  
"Okay, if you say so." Ashley said. There was silence. Then Ashley exclaimed, "I saw the look on your face after you kissed Ryo for the first time."  
  
Rika tried to hide her nervousness. "What look?"  
  
"The look that said: I felt something there."  
  
Rika was silent for a second, and then said, "It's weird. I never felt like that before."  
  
"So.it's true.you've fell in love with Ryo."  
  
"I didn't say that!"  
  
"Then what did you felt in that first kiss. Tell me."  
  
Nothing was heard for a couple seconds until Rika said, "I don't know."  
  
"So," Ashley summarized, "You're denying that you are in love with Ryo, but you have no other explanation." Rika shrugged. "Urgh, I'm not getting anywhere with this. Come on, let's go back to the gang."  
  
So, Rika and Ashley walked back to where the others were, and Rika was surprised to see Ryo there.  
  
"Um." Ashley looked around. "Well, just leave you two alone." Everyone except Rika and Ryo got up. And Kazu. Amber hit Kazu on the back. He immediately stood up.  
  
"What?" Kazu asked.  
  
"We're leaving!" Jeri said.  
  
"What if I don't want to leave?"  
  
"Oh, that's easy. I'll just throw you off the stage again!" Ashley exclaimed, making Kazu run off. The others quietly walked off.  
  
Rika sat down. "So."  
  
Ryo looked up. "Um.on stage.well.something." Suddenly, there was the sound of a million footsteps running on a wooden floor. And then, out of nowhere, people ruined the moment, coming from the stage, or the audience, waving their hands, and pieces of paper, shouting, "LOOK! THE STARS! RIKA.RYO! AUTOGRAPHS!"  
  
And in that amount of time, Ryo and Rika were bombarded with pieces of paper waving in their faces. Both looked shocked and surprised. And both were mad at the people who ruined the moment for them.  
  
Hurriedly, Rika signed the pieces of paper waving her face, and pushed the other people who were surrounding her out of her way. But Ryo was already gone.  
  
'Follow the screaming. Follow the screaming fangirls.' Rika thought to herself, opening the door heading out to the back parking lot. But, she heard nothing. 'Urgh.guess I'll have to wait to talk to him tomorrow.' And with that, Rika headed home.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Brrring! Brrring!  
  
'Urgh.stupid phone.stupid sunlight.' Rika, still half asleep, grabbed the phone. "Yes?" Normally, Rika would have said 'Hello', but she was too tired and annoyed at whoever called.  
  
"Um.hey Rika," Henry's voice came on the other line, sounding a bit surprised.  
  
"Oh, sorry Henry. I was asleep," Rika explained.  
  
"I just called to tell you that we're having a get together in an hour at the hideout."  
  
"Alright, I'll be there," Rika said, "Bye." And then she hung up. "Urgh." she said, falling back onto her bed.  
  
A little bit before an hour later, Rika was walking down her street, to the hideout.  
  
'Oh yeah, today's supposed to be the day I talk to Ryo about what happened,' Rika thought, 'Just great.' Suddenly, someone bumped into her.  
  
"Watch it, you jerk!" Rika shouted, angry at being jostled out her thoughts.  
  
"Sorry." There was a pause, as the other person looked up, "Rika?!"  
  
Rika looked up at her name. 'Ryo.' There was more awkward silence. 'Man, ever since the play there seems to be tension between us. This is just making it harder!'  
  
"So." Ryo interrupted the dead silence, "Going to the get together?"  
  
"Um.yeah." 'Stop it Rika! You're acting like a love-struck teenage girl! You don't want to act like that!'  
  
More silence. 'I can't this!' Rika thought. "Ryo, I have something to tell you, and don't interrupt me when I start," Rika said. Ryo looked a bit taken aback, then nodded.  
  
"Okay.yesterday when we put on that performance of 'West Side Story', I-"  
  
"RYO AKIYAMA AND RIKA NONAKA!" a voice suddenly shouted. Rika stopped and both of them turned around to see a man that was bald and big trying to catch up with them.  
  
"Um.yes?" Ryo asked.  
  
"You." the man started, out of breath, "You two were.the stars.in the performance.of 'West Side Story'.yesterday, right?" Ryo and Rika nodded. "Great! My name is Alan Reedy. I own and teach the Performing Arts school downtown. I would really appreciate it if you considered going there for the school year. According to the performance last night, you're just what Reedy's Performing Arts School or RPAS, needs!"  
  
"Uh.Mr. Reedy-" Ryo said.  
  
"Just call me Alan. All the kids who go to the school do."  
  
"Okay.Alan. Well, we need to be somewhere, so."  
  
"Oh, oh, I understand.are you two going out on a little date?" Alan said with a big grin.  
  
Ryo coughed, and Rika blushed a shade of red.  
  
"No, uh.Alan." Ryo said, after another awkward pause, "We need to meet our friends to-"  
  
"Oh, yes, hanging out. Gotcha!" Alan said, "Well, let me just give you some registration papers." Alan opened the briefcase he had with him. There was a minute of paper shuffling. "I know it's in here somewhere." He chuckled. "I always seem to lose things, my wife tells me I just forget where I put stuff."  
  
Ryo nudged Rika. "Come on, let's get out of here." Slowly, both of them walked away from Alan, and when they were at a far enough distance, they ran.  
  
"But I know where I put my stuff. It's like they have little legs and walk off on their own. It's the strangest thing. Ah! Here they are." Alan looked up. "Now where did those darn kids go?"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Sorry, we're late," Ryo yelled, as he and Rika ran up the path to the hideout.  
  
"Oh, we understand," Kazu said, with a smirk, "Fully."  
  
Rika shot a glare at Kazu. "This strange guy wanted us to join his probably stranger school."  
  
"Rrright." Kazu grinned.  
  
"SHUT UP KAZU!" Rika said through gritted teeth.  
  
"Oh.yeah." Amber spoke up, "Don't take Main Street home. Your fan clubs reside there now."  
  
"Oh, thanks," Ryo said.  
  
"Okay, let's get some music playing," Ashley said, grabbing the stereo and putting in a blue CD. A second later, Clay Aiken's single started playing. (A/N: ^_^ This idea dedicated to Madi, who LOOOOOOVES Clay. Don't ya, Madi?)  
  
After awhile, Rika's worries subsided, and she just enjoying hanging out with her friends. She could put off talking to Ryo till later. But she knew, deep down in her heart, she would have to do it sooner or later.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Ashley: WHAT?! No, I can't be done with the chapter yet! There was barely a page earlier.are you saying I wrote most of the chapter in an hour? NO WAY!  
  
Kazu: It was really short though.  
  
Ashley: Yeah.I know. But I got another chapter out! OH YEAH!!!  
  
Kazu: The next chapter will probably be the last. Unless Ashley has a brilliant idea before then.  
  
Ashley: WOW! I might actually get done with a chapter fic. My first finished chapter fic. WOW! It's a miracle. Hey, do you know how I got done with this chapter?  
  
Kazu: Do I want to know?  
  
Ashley: YES! I was listening to my one and only inspiration.CLAY AIKEN! MY DAWG! Love ya, Clay!  
  
Kazu: O_O  
  
Ashley: And the Rolling Stone edition with him.his shirt unbuttoned.  
  
Kazu: AHHHHHH!! I DON'T WANNA KNOW MORE!!!  
  
Ashley: Well, Ruben fans, think about Ruben with his shirt unbuttoned.^_^ (Credit for this goes to my friend's brother, Michael)  
  
Kazu: NOOOOO..BAD MENTAL IMAGE!!!!  
  
Ashley: Just review! PLWEASE?! *skips off listening to 'This is the Night' by none other than Clay Aiken* 


	13. The Truth

Chapter Thirteen: The Truth  
  
Ashley: Funny. The last chapter is chapter number 13.  
  
Kazu: Well, if you post this on a Friday the 13th, we'll know why.  
  
Ashley: Um...the next Friday the 13th is in February 2004. I wouldn't want my fans to wait that long.  
  
Rika: And you wouldn't want you fans reading you babbling on and on about nothing, and waiting so long to get to the actual chapter, would you?  
  
Ashley: Mif. (It's the Word Of The Week!!!) I'll just say: I don't own Digimon, the plan is almost done being written out though, and I don't own WSS (West Side Story) or Katie (if she's in here) or Amber. Or Madi. All belong to people they belong to. I own Ashley though! And sadly, I don't own Takato either. *cries*  
  
Kazu and Rika: - -;;  
  
Rika: Here's the last and final chapter of DSS! Yes, I know, sad. Well, not really. And watch, the reviewers are gonna say 'Make a sequel! Make a sequel!' That's up to Ashley. She did have this scary idea for a fic though, wasn't it about 'Paradise Hotel'?  
  
Ashley: *stops crying* Yeah, like the show on FOX. *sigh* Never watch it. You'll get hooked on it. But, I did it! I stopped watching Paradise Hotel!!! *confetti streams down* YAY!!! BTW, people, special guest appearances by people you probably don't even know!!! Anyway, read and enjoy the last chapter...  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Rika walked home from the "meeting". She was still putting off talking to Ryo. But that was fine with her. Rika finally made it to her house and opened the door.  
  
"Oh, Rika, is that you?" her mom called out from the living room.  
  
"Um...yeah Mom," Rika answered, taking off her shoes.  
  
"Come in here for a moment. I'd like you to meet someone."  
  
Rika walked into the living room to see her mom sitting there, with a cup of tea, and her grandma sitting on the chair. But what Rika noticed first of all was the person sitting next to her mom. It was Alan, the freaky guy, with his freaky school.  
  
"Oh, no, Mom! I don't want to go to his school!" Rika said.  
  
"No, no, no. You don't have to go to his school if you don't want to," Rumiko said, making Rika blink in shock. "But...he has a favor to ask you."  
  
Alan turned toward Rika. "If you don't want to go to my school, it's okay. But, I still want you to take part in some of the plays we put on."  
  
Rika groaned. "I don't really want to-"  
  
"But get this. We're putting on 'Romeo and Juliet' for the next play, and I was thinking, maybe you want to play the part of Juliet." Alan looked hopeful.  
  
"Not another sappy mushy love story. I hate 'Romeo and Juliet'. And I wouldn't want to be Juliet if...well..."  
  
"Oh, Rika," Rumiko spoke up, "Guess who's playing Romeo? That friend you have...um...Ryo? The cute one. Yes. He's playing Romeo."  
  
"Um...excuse me, but, when did you have time to ask Ryo to play the part of Romeo? He hasn't been home all day," Rika asked.  
  
"I haven't," Alan explained, "It's just that, you two have to play the major roles together. We need both of you."  
  
"Uh..." Rika didn't know what to say.  
  
"So, it's all settled then. Rika will play the part of Juliet in our production of 'Romeo and Juliet."  
  
"No!" Rika suddenly said, "I don't want to! I hate acting."  
  
"Oh, come on, honey," Rumiko said, "It's a good experience. And you need this sort of thing to get into a good college, so, yes, Rika will be in your production of 'Romeo and Juliet'." Rika stood there in disbelief.  
  
"Great, tomorrow, come by the school and we'll get this all finished. Ryo will also be there," Alan explained, and added with a wink. "just so you know, Rika." Rika rolled her eyes, as Alan shut the door behind him.  
  
"Okay, I was POLITE enough not to say this in front of Alan Reedy but, I am NOT gonna take part in this. Whatsoever!" Rika said.  
  
"Yes, you will," Rumiko said.  
  
"Grandma? What do you have to say about this?" Rika asked in exasperation.  
  
"It does look good on a college application, dear," Seiko said, then took a sip of her tea.  
  
"Oh great! The whole world is against me!" Rika threw her hands up in frustration, then trudged out of the room.  
  
"Don't worry, Mom," Rumiko said after Rika left, "I know once she starts, she'll love it."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead," Rika muttered to herself the next morning as Rumiko and her went down to Reedy's Performing Arts School.  
  
"You're not dead," Rumiko said, putting on some shades, and rolled down the window of their car.  
  
"Omigosh! It's Rumiko Nonaka, the model!" someone shouted from the sidewalk.  
  
"Omigosh! It's Rika Nonaka, the girl who starred in 'West Side Story' with Ryo Akiyama!" another shouted. Rika sighed.  
  
'Great, now I'm associated with Ryo Akiyama wherever I go.' Rika thought.  
  
Soon, they were at the school, and they both got out, and walked down to the door. Alan opened it before they could even knock.  
  
"Ciao!! Come siete che fate questa bella giornata?" Alan shouted, a little too over enthusiastic.  
  
"What?" Rika said, raising her eyebrows.  
  
"It's Italian! I said, 'Hello! How are you this fine day?'" Alan explained.  
  
"Fine..." Rika said.  
  
"Just great Alan. Just great," Rumiko exclaimed.  
  
"Let's just wait until Ryo gets here. Right Rika?"  
  
"Why the HECK do you say something about Ryo, then look at me and wink or do a different ANNOYING thing!?" Rika almost yelled.  
  
"Never mind, never mind. Come in and have a seat." Alan led Rumiko and Rika in what looked like Alan's office, and they sat down in the red poofy armchairs. (A/N: Remember, Amber? The poofy armchairs? At the car dealer ship? ^_^)  
  
"Alright, Rika. The part of Juliet is very popular. Fifty girls at this school already signed up for it, but I'm saving the part for you. You must take it. You must work hard. You must be at every practice. You must..." Rika tuned him out. She didn't even want the part of Juliet.  
  
KNOCK! KNOCK!  
  
"Oh," Alan said, stopping in the middle of his speech, "That must be Ryo. Great, huh, Rika?"  
  
Rika rolled her eyes and muttered underneath her breath something along the lines of, 'Why the heck do you keep doing that?!'  
  
All Alan did was smile at Rika, and then answer the door.  
  
"Um...Alan sir," a kid said, at the door.  
  
"Yes, Theodore. What the heck do you want?" Alan snapped.  
  
'Wow, seems like a nice...but scary guy...' Rika thought, 'But, he snaps at his students. Glad I'm not going to this school.'  
  
"There's a Ryo at the front gates for you. Should I let him in or-"  
  
"Theodore Deraton!!! Are you telling me that you left Ryo Akiyama waiting outside the gates?"  
  
"Um..."  
  
"This is RYO AKIYAMA! The guy who played Tony in the 'West Side Story' play I took you students to see!!" Alan practically yelled.  
  
"OH! Ryo Akiyama?! I didn't know sir," Theodore said quickly, "I'll let him in right now." Then the little kid ran off and out of sight.  
  
"These kids at this school aren't all like that Ms. Nonaka," Alan explained, "Trust me. It won't be like that."  
  
Rika sat up in shock. "So, you ARE sending me to this cruddy school!"  
  
"Rika, don't talk about Alan's school like that!" Rumiko said.  
  
"MOM! I don't want to go to this school. I told you that!" Rika shouted.  
  
"It's for the best," Rumiko ended the argument, as Rika slumped back into her seat, fuming.  
  
Suddenly, the door opened again and two people walked in. Ryo and his father.  
  
"Oh, Ryo! Mr. Akiyama!" Alan jumped up, walking over to shake their hands, "Glad you could make it. Sit down, sit down."  
  
They both pulled up the poofy chairs, and sat down in them.  
  
Alan sat back down in his seat behind a desk. "Alright! Now all of you are here. What a privilege having Ryo Akiyama and Rika Nonaka considering going to my school."  
  
"I am not considering going to your school," Rika muttered.  
  
Alan either didn't hear Rika or ignored her. "We need some papers to be done. Mostly stuff about advertising about the plays and stuff like that. So, Mr. Akiyama. Ms. Nonaka. You two sign first." They both signed without an argument.  
  
"Okay Rika. Sign right here." Alan gave Rika a pen. She stared at the pen, and then at the paper. Rika looked up at her Mom who was watching her intently. Alan, who seemed really giddy. And then Ryo. Rika met his gaze. She couldn't tell what he was thinking. A few moments like that passed.  
  
Rika quickly stood up. "No! I'm not going to your school!" Rika shouted. And with that, she ran out of the door.  
  
Rika quickly walked around the gates, and started walking on the grassy hills surrounding the school.  
  
She wasn't gonna go to that school. There was absolutely no way possible. She also wasn't even gonna act for the school. She wanted nothing to do with Alan Reedy. No one was gonna make her do something she didn't want to do. No one.  
  
Rika stopped at a small lake. On the other side, she could see mimes...well...miming. It was sort of scary looking. A mime suddenly waved to Rika, making her frown. The mime made a shocked look, and then looked back to the other mimes, pointing to her. All the mimes turned angry...and silently ran toward Rika.  
  
Rika stood there for a second, processing what was happening. A mob of mimes were chasing her. Oh. A MOB?!! Rika immediately started running away, as fast as she could.  
  
'Mimes? MIMES?! WHY THE HECK ARE MIMES CHASING AFTER ME?!' Rika thought, running, not being able to believe what was happening.  
  
Rika ran through some trees, not having an idea where she was going. Through the trees, she saw some light, and ran toward it. It was a small clearing, and over the hill, she saw the main road, and the school. She ran all the way around the school.  
  
She sat down on a rock, catching her breath. Then she heard the sound of many footsteps. Rika immediately hid behind a tree, as she saw many mime girls ran past, silently screaming.  
  
"Mime...fangirls..." she heard someone pant on the other side of the tree. Rika looked around the side of the tree, to see Ryo panting, hands on his knees.  
  
"So, you have fangirls that are mimes?" Rika said. Ryo looked up and saw her.  
  
"I guess so."  
  
"Why the heck are you out here? Were you chasing after me or something?" Rika asked.  
  
"Actually, Alan kicked us out because he said if you weren't gonna participate, then there was no reason to let me sign up. Then, the mimes found me, and ran away. And here I am." Ryo explained, as Rika smirked. "It's not funny! I just about died in that mob!"  
  
"So, you're not going to this school, then?" Rika said.  
  
"Of course not! I wouldn't have wanted to anyway."  
  
Rika sat down on a rock. There was an awkward silence as Rika considered if she should tell Ryo yet. Little did she know, Ryo was thinking the exact same thing.  
  
"So...um..." Ryo said, scratching the back of his neck.  
  
"What?" Rika looked up.  
  
"Never mind." Another awkward silence.  
  
"Um..." Rika started to say but faded out.  
  
"I think I know what we both have to talk about," Ryo interrupted.  
  
Rika nodded. "Yeah, the play."  
  
"It's been on my mind ever since, and I know I need to talk to you about a part in it," Ryo hesitantly said.  
  
"The first kiss?" Rika asked.  
  
"Yeah...um...I was shocked. That's why I jumped back. I had no idea that was gonna happen, and-"  
  
Rika unexpectedly cut in. "Ryo, do you like me?"  
  
Ryo was surprised Rika asked this. He did, but he didn't know if he should answer truthfully.  
  
"Listen Rika. I don't want to end our friendship, I really don't. But I don't want to lie to you either. So, this is hard. But, the truth is, I do like you Rika, I really," Ryo thought a deep breath, "really like you." Silence.  
  
"So, did you feel something in that kiss, Ryo? Did you?" Rika looked into Ryo's eyes.  
  
"Why should you be the one questioning me? No, I ask YOU, did you feel something in that kiss, Rika? Answer truthfully. Don't try to lie."  
  
Ryo did tell her the truth in the last question. She should tell him the truth in this one too. But, was it the right thing to do? What would he do if she had felt something in that kiss.  
  
"Well," Rika finally said, "I don't know what I felt. But I know I never felt like that before. It was surprising. I was shocked at what I felt. It was something new to me. I don't know what to call it. Really, I don't. I just know I never felt like that before."  
  
"What if you had another chance to try to find out what you felt?" Ryo asked.  
  
"What are you saying?" Rika asked, confused.  
  
"This." Ryo leaned forward and cupped Rika's cheek with his hand, as their lips met. Rika was surprised at first at Ryo's sudden bravery toward kissing her. Then, she fell into the kiss, kissing him back.  
  
A minute later, Ryo backed off. He looked into Rika's eyes while resting his forehead on her's.  
  
"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that," Ryo whispered, as Rika blushed. "I hope you know I meant that kiss on stage. Every one of them. And I care for you...very much so."  
  
"You mean that?" Rika asked, looking down on the ground.  
  
"Why would I say it if I didn't mean it?"  
  
Rika shrugged. Ryo, without warning, kissed Rika once more.  
  
"Will you be my girlfriend, Rika?" Ryo asked, looking deep into Rika's eyes.  
  
A pause. Then, Rika got an idea, and smirked. "Well, I dunno," Rika pondered. Ryo sighed. Then, Rika smiled. "Of course."  
  
Ryo smiled, and brought Rika toward him, hugging her. A couple minutes later, Rika remembered that her mom was still waiting for her. And Ryo's dad was probably waiting for Ryo.  
  
"We'd better go before our parents suspect anything," Rika said, and got up reluctantly.  
  
"Okay," Ryo got up too. There was an uneasy silence walking back to the school, until Ryo got an idea. Yes, it was stupid, but it was an interesting idea. And it fit what just happened.  
  
"Rika! I've just kissed a girl named Rika. And suddenly I've found how wonderful a sound can be!" Rika stared at him as if he was crazy. "You know what? Your name needs one more syllable. Three, instead of two. Then, it would fit with the song."  
  
"You're crazy," Rika muttered, walking in front of Ryo.  
  
Ryo grinned. "Could be, who knows?" he said, causing Rika to sigh in exasperation, but smile afterwards.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The next day, all the cast of the play were having a party, in the school cafeteria after school. No one knew that Ryo and Rika were together. Everyone was clueless.  
  
Rika was sitting at table in the corner, alone. She looked around the cafeteria, at all the streamers and confetti, and then at the huge sign hung up over the doorway, 'GOOD JOB EVERYONE!!!' Everything reminding her of the dances held here. And how she hated them.  
  
Rika was just about to leave, when someone sat next to her. "Hey wildcat."  
  
Rika rolled her eyes. "What if someone sees you? They might suspect something," Rika said, still haven't looked at him yet.  
  
"Well, what they suspect would be correct, wouldn't it?" Ryo asked.  
  
"THEY don't know, remember?"  
  
"True. But I can't even sit next to you?" Ryo put on a puppy dogface and Rika turned around.  
  
"I never did before, so, go!" Rika said, pushing him off the seat. Ryo sulkily walked off, causing Rika to shake her head at his behavior.  
  
"Hey Rika! Over here!" she heard Jeri shout from somewhere on the other side of the room. Rika looked around and spotted her with the rest of the group. Rika walked over.  
  
"Hey. What are you guys talking about?" Rika asked.  
  
"Absolutely nothing," Amber said.  
  
"Hey, I saw you talking to Ryo just a second ago," Jeri exclaimed, "What were you two talking about?"  
  
Rika groaned. "Nothing. He was just being annoying like he always is." 'Great excuse.'  
  
Suddenly, a short guy with brown hair came up to the group. "Hey, do you know a Katie?" he asked.  
  
"Um...yeah," Jeri said, "You mean her, talking to Ashley?" She pointed over at the girl who played Chino in the play.  
  
"Oh, goody!" the guy clapped his hands together and walked over to Katie.  
  
"Oh-kay," Amber said.  
  
Ashley walked over the group. "Hey guys. I saw Matt was talking to you."  
  
"Matt? You mean the guy who asked for Katie?" Jeri asked.  
  
"Yeah. He's our classmate. Matt is currently trying to annoy Katie." Ashley pointed to a fleeing Katie, with a chasing Matt behind her. (A/N: Seriously Katie, this just popped into my head while writing.)  
  
All the girls walked back to the table, and sat down.  
  
"YOU'RE IN MY BUBBLE, MATT!!!" Katie's screams could be heard.  
  
"Hey girls," Henry said, as Amber sat down next to him.  
  
"Hey," all the girls chorused.  
  
"Where's Kazu?" Jeri asked, looking around.  
  
"We have no clue," Takato answered.  
  
"Probably flirting with some girls," Ashley said, as she rolled her eyes. Everyone sighed.  
  
Out of the corner of her eye, Rika saw Ryo waving at her.  
  
"Um...I'll be right back," Rika said, walking slowly backwards, and then turning around, walking quickly away.  
  
"Wonder what's up with her," Jeri muttered, then put done her glass to follow.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"What's up?" Rika asked, following Ryo through the backyard of the school.  
  
"I was wondering if we should tell our friends about us..." Ryo said, stopping by the water fountain.  
  
Rika groaned. "Kazu and Kenta would never let it down."  
  
"Yeah, but it hard keeping it a secret. And sooner or later they'll find out."  
  
"Well, I suppose it's not fair, not telling them and all. I guess you're right."  
  
Ryo looked surprised. "Did you just say I was right about something?" he asked.  
  
"Oh, shut up!" Rika said, hitting his shoulder.  
  
"I know a way to get me to shut up," Ryo said with a grin.  
  
"You're so full of it, you know that?" Rika said, but slightly smiling too. Then she leaned forward and kissed him on the mouth.  
  
"Omigosh!" someone whispered behind them, and ran off to tell the others.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"It was a cool movie! The best ever!"  
  
"I didn't like it. The girl dies! Why the heck does the girl die?!?"  
  
"Oh, come on, it rocked!"  
  
"It BORED me. Half of it I didn't understand!"  
  
"Um...what are you two arguing about again??" Henry asked, looking at Kazu and Ashley, who were fighting about...something.  
  
"The movie Daredevil," Ashley explained, "Of course, the girl had to die! Girl dies, guy lives! Stupid movie."  
  
"It was - " Kazu started, but was stopped when Jeri ran up to the table, panting.  
  
"Kiss...going out...they...are...going out..." Jeri panted.  
  
The guys all looked confused, when the girls all said in unison, "RYO AND RIKA ARE GOING OUT!?!" All the guys looked at the girls.  
  
"She didn't say that," Takato said.  
  
"Yes, she did!" Amber said, excitedly. "You saw them kiss? Where? How long have they been going out? Why didn't they tell us?"  
  
"No clue," Jeri said, sitting down. "I saw them talking about it, and then they kissed."  
  
"And you girls got that all from 'kiss...going out...they...are...going out???' She didn't even say who!" Kenta said, looking at them, "How do you DO that?"  
  
"It's a gift!" Ashley announced, as the guys all sighed. "So, it's true? They're going out?!"  
  
"Yes, and they're coming to tell us, now or sometime soon."  
  
"There they are!" Amber said, "Now, act natural." Everyone went back to doing what they were doing before.  
  
"Oh, hey, you guys," Henry said, as Ryo and Rika approached.  
  
"Um...we have something we'd like to tell you," Rika said.  
  
"Okay, what is it?" Kazu asked.  
  
A short pause. "We're...going out," Ryo announced. Silence...then...  
  
"FINALLY!" Ashley said, getting up. "It took you long enough."  
  
"Congratulations you two!"  
  
"Wow!"  
  
"That's great!"  
  
"You guys aren't shocked? Or something like that?" Rika asked, confused.  
  
"Nah...you two are perfect for each other!" Takato said.  
  
"Thanks you guys," Ryo said.  
  
Kazu walked up to Ryo. "So, what's it like to have a girlfriend?"  
  
Ashley laughed. "Wondering about the not even possible, Kazu?"  
  
Kazu looked shocked. "Are you saying I don't have a girlfriend?"  
  
"Are you saying you actually have a girlfriend?" Ashley gasped.  
  
"Yeah, I just never told you guys about her."  
  
Rika started laughing. "You're making this whole thing up Kazu. I can tell."  
  
"I just never told anyone. We kept our relationship a secret! I met her at the practices."  
  
"Yeah right, maybe when I met her, I'll believe you," Rika said, and Ashley nodded.  
  
"I'll go get her then," Kazu announced, walking off.  
  
"He's lying," Rika said, after Kazu was gone.  
  
"Maybe, maybe not," Henry exclaimed.  
  
A couple minutes later, Kazu came back with a girl. She was a tall brunette, with brown eyes.  
  
She walked up to the group, and said, "Hi, I'm Madi."  
  
"How much did you pay her, Kazu?" Rika asked.  
  
Kazu whispered to Madi, "She doesn't believe you're my girlfriend."  
  
Madi smirked. "We'll see about that." Out of nowhere, she kissed Kazu on the lips.  
  
Kenta was the first to say something. "Well, I've seen more than I want to tonight." Everyone silently agreed.  
  
"Hey, where's Jeri?" Rika asked, looking around.  
  
Suddenly, Jeri came back smiling. A couple seconds later, Mrs. Tenner came onstage.  
  
"Hello everyone. I know we planned no music for tonight, but we want to play a special song, for a special couple. Ryo...Rika. We are playing this song for you." Ryo and Rika looked at each other, and then at Jeri.  
  
"Come on. Go out there," Jeri said, giving them a light push. Ryo mouthed something along the lines of, 'Thank you, I owe you one.' Jeri just smiled in return.  
  
~~  
  
What if I told you, it was all meant to be?  
  
Would you believe me? Would you agree?  
  
It's almost that feeling that we've met before  
  
So tell me that you don't think I'm crazy  
  
When I tell you love has come here and now  
  
~~  
  
Ryo and Rika slow danced to the music, as the tamers watched.  
  
~~  
  
A moment like this  
  
Some people wait a lifetime  
  
For a moment like this  
  
Some people search forever  
  
For that one special kiss  
  
Oh, I can't believe it's happening to me  
  
Some people wait a lifetime  
  
For a moment like this  
  
~~  
  
The song continued, as everyone watched the stars of their play. Everyone was either 'aww'ing, or sighing, or just watching.  
  
"They make such a cute couple," Ashley sighed.  
  
"Like us," Takato said from behind her. Ashley turned around and smiled. Takato kissed her. (A/N: TAKE THAT JURATO FANS!!! MWHAHAHAHAHAHA!! I'm feeling really rebellious today!! I'm so evil. MWHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!)  
  
~~  
  
Everything changes, but beauty remains  
  
Something so tender, I can't explain  
  
Well I maybe dreaming, but till I awake  
  
Can we make this dream last forever?  
  
And I cherish all the love we share  
  
~~  
  
Henry and Amber looked over at Takato and Ashley.  
  
"You know what? They have the same idea I do," Henry said, causing Amber to giggle before he kissed her.  
  
Finally, after two more minutes, the song was over. Ryo kissed Rika. Everyone cheered.  
  
An hour later, everyone was leaving.  
  
"You know what?" Kenta said, "Ryo and Rika, and Kazu and Madi, wouldn't be together right now if not for the West Side Story play. And whose idea was that?"  
  
"Yeah, it was my idea," Ashley said, "I'm playing matchmaker and I don't even know it!"  
  
Everyone laughed, and slowly left. Only Ryo and Rika were left.  
  
"Come on, Tony, we'd better get going," Rika joked, taking Ryo's hand.  
  
"Alright, my Maria."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Ashley: *confetti comes down* It's over!!!!  
  
Everyone: YAY!  
  
Ashley: And to celebrate, I booked a band.  
  
Rika: A band?  
  
Ashley: PRAIZE!!! Come on out guys.  
  
Dave: Hey Ash.  
  
Ashley: Hey Wonder Bread!!!  
  
Luke: Hey.  
  
Ashley: *dreamily* Hey Luke...  
  
Everyone else: Hi.  
  
Ashley: So, let's get the party started! *over the music* I'd like to give a shout out to all my reviewers...this is gonna take long...well...  
  
Kaibalover, dragongirl18, isis52, Kit Kat, Amethyst Blizzard, Kitaru15, Pirosphere, KT, dragongirl, DigiFreak103, RukiMakino1, Akino Matoumiken, The Anti Fluffy, Fuzzy Wuzzy Whitnery, A Friend, babe_galanime, your very angry friend, EvilVidel, bff, One of your Fans, littocherryblossom, Abby, your best bud, anonymous, myself, Rika14, Border Line, Midnight Blossom, taKAri_RyUki~ruLEz, r a d i a n c e, Raye, Angel, 9-gungaw In4, o0Kasumi0o, Sam8  
  
THANK YOU!!!! I LOVE YOU PEEPS!!!!  
  
Kazu: Let me say something before we end. HI PEOPLE!!!  
  
Ashley: - -;; Um...BYE!!! SEE YA IN MY OTHER FICS!!!!! 


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